


Change of Heart

by AJsRandom



Series: Changes [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Epic Friendship, Eventual Romance, F/M, Magic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-11 15:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 58,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4441931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJsRandom/pseuds/AJsRandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starting with Morgana's cure in "The Crystal Cave," what happens when she "sees" who cures her and confronts him? What happened to her that changed her from kind to killer? And does she want to change her heart again when she realizes people aren't what she thought they were? Continues through the rest of S3 and goes a bit AU. Mergana and Arwen included.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First posted at ff.net August 2014.

Morgana was brought to the surface of the darkness when a warm hand left hers. The presence moved away, but not far. Another joined it. Whispered words drifted her way, but she couldn't force them to make sense. The darkness pressed heavily upon her; she didn't even have the strength to lift her eyelids.

The warm presence moved further away until she felt it no more. The other moved closer—it was not as warm. In fact, it was cold, but much stronger. Something felt familiar about it. There was a sense of _sameness_. What that meant she didn't know.

The presence reached out and nearly touched her, and oh! All her senses suddenly became clearer. What just happened? But any further thoughts upon that were cut off by a voice. It seemed familiar, and yet not familiar. It was very deep and came across almost as a growl. The words spoken were ancient, yet known to her.

Power and warmth flowed from the presence into her. Breathing became easier and the dark weight oppressing her gradually eased off until it was gone. The words ceased, but the power continued to weave through her until its work was done. 

She wanted to know who her mysterious savior was. She opened her eyes to slits and slowly turned them to her right where the presence emanated from. Her sight was still blurry, but she was able to make out dark hair above a featureless pale face. Other colors were there too—brown, red, blue. Something about those shades combined tugged at her memory. _What was it?_ A sudden wave of fatigue washed over her and swept her back to sleep.

 

xxxXxxx

 

Morgana woke in the morning. She opened her eyes to look at her surroundings. She was still in Gaius's chambers, lying in the patient bed. Dark curly hair rested near her hand. Her loyal handmaiden had fallen asleep at her bedside. _How sweet_. But she wanted to know what was happening. Time to wake her. “Gwen?”

Gwen's head rose and those brown eyes looked right at Morgana. “Ah!” She squealed. “Morgana, you're awake!” That in itself shocked Gwen into a tizzy. She threw herself onto Morgana to embrace her, then stood and practically yelled, “I can't believe it! I have to tell everyone!” 

Morgana rolled her eyes as Gwen ran to pound on the door to Merlin's tiny chamber. “Merlin! Merlin, wake up! Morgana's awake!”

The two women heard grumbling, then the door opened to reveal Merlin. He was dressed but had a massive case of bed head. “Whut? Oh, M'gana's awake,” he mumbled. 

Gwen grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Wake up! You've got to go tell Arthur and the King—Morgana's awake.”

“Yeah, okay, got it.” Merlin stepped into his boots and left, a _little_ more awake. 

Gwen returned to Morgana's bedside. “So how do you feel?” 

“Still a bit tired, and my head hurts a little.” She reached a hand up and felt the stitches on her forehead. “But overall, I feel fine.”

“That's amazing, considering you should have been dead by now.” 

“Really? What happened anyway? I remember screaming and falling, but nothing else. I don't even remember what I was doing beforehand.” That was a lie; she knew she'd been on her way to meet Morgause when the door slammed shut and the torch next to her fell, startling her into her fall. 

“Well, Merlin found you in a stairwell. Apparently you'd fallen down the stairs somehow. You had a crack in your skull and a concussion. It affected your breathing. You were bleeding outside and inside your skull. We'd all lost hope for your survival.”

“Merlin found me? I guess I'm lucky then.” _The betrayer probably pushed me_. 

“Definitely. You could have died alone, and . . .” Gwen sniffed.

“Hey, Gwen. I'm here, that didn't happen. See?” Morgana took Gwen's hands in hers and gave them a gentle squeeze. Just then the door opened and Arthur stepped through, followed by Merlin. Gwen vacated her seat for Arthur. 

“I'll go see that your chambers are warm and tidy for your arrival, My Lady.” Gwen curtsied and headed out the door. 

“Morgana,” Arthur said, “We were all so worried about you, you don't even know.” He took her hands, unable to continue. 

She manufactured a few tears. “Oh Arthur,” she sobbed out and sat up slowly to give him a hug. She happened to glance back at Merlin. He stood a respectful distance behind Arthur, his face impassive. _Well, at least it wasn't his usual hateful glare_. 

Arthur and Morgana pulled back a little, keeping hold of each other's arms. “I'm so glad you're better. Father should be here shortly . . .” he said. 

The door opened again and the King stepped in. When he saw Morgana sitting up, he rushed over to her. Arthur immediately stood up and stepped away from the chair. Uther sat and looked back at him. “Arthur, if you don't mind—” 

“Of course Father,” he replied and reached over to touch Morgana's hand briefly. “I'll see you later, eh?” to her. He walked out, taking Merlin with him. That left the King and his _daughter_ together. 

“Morgana . . . this must be a miracle; I can think of no other way to describe it!” Uther sat next to her so he could cradle her upper body. They embraced fiercely for several moments, and when they let go, both had tears in their eyes. 

“I—I don’t know how it happened. Gwen told me, but I don’t know how I can be alive after such an injury. Something Gaius did—it, it _must_ have been a miracle!” 

“I never thought . . .” Uther replied, but just then the door opened, and Gaius stepped in. “It's surely a miracle,” he said when he saw Gaius. 

Gaius looked surprised for a moment, then schooled his expression and indicated the King should follow him back into the hallway. As soon as they left the room, Morgana dropped her pleased expression. She wanted to know _who_ had healed her and _why_. Something was _very_ familiar about that mysterious figure by her bedside. 

The door opened again and she quickly rearranged her expression back to its grateful look. Uther walked right over to her and stood at her bedside. Gaius walked over as well. He looked thoughtful but bent over her to examine her thoroughly. After that bit of poking and prodding, Gaius declared her in perfect health. “I can see no reason she shouldn’t be moved back to her chambers. She should rest another day or two, just to be sure.” 

“I am so pleased,” Uther replied. “Thank you again Gaius. Would you find Arthur so he can carry her back to her chambers?” Gaius nodded and left again. “We’ll talk more when we get you settled into your own bed. I just want to look at you.” He sat back down and took her hands again. 

 _Great_ , she thought. _They’ve just ensured me little to no privacy. But I_ must _talk to Morgause—so many things to tell her!_

 

xxxXxxx

 

It was somewhat humiliating to have to be carried up to her room when Morgana felt well enough to do it on her own. But she let Arthur and Gwen fuss over her as they got her settled in bed. Arthur left and Gwen stayed long enough to prop Morgana up with pillows. “Thank you, Gwen,” she said.

Uther was waiting close to the foot of her bed. When she finished, Gwen turned and bowed to him before leaving. Uther went to Morgana, who reached out her hands to him. “I couldn’t let you die. I believe I somehow willed you to live,” he said.

 _Time to play the thankful ward_. “You've always been so gracious to me. I'm thankful,” she told him.

“You and Arthur are everything to me.”

“I couldn’t have a better guardian. Being so near death has caused me to see how important you . . . and Arthur are to me. How dear we are to each other.” _Come on, you half-wit king, admit it_. She’d decided she’d give him one chance to admit to her that she was his daughter.

“Yes.”

“You're like a father to me.” She searched his eyes for any kind of acknowledgement.

“Yes.” He bowed his head to kiss her hands, which were joined with his.

“I want the people to know that.” _There’s a hint, Uther_.

“They do.”

“Not really.”

“Certainly they do.” _No, they don’t_.

“In their eyes I am merely your ward, a guest.” _Take a look around, fool!_ She seethed.

“What’s important is what we feel. That's what matters, not what the people think. I need to let you rest.” And with that statement, Uther pulled away and left the room.

Morgana was beside herself. She threw off her covers and went to her vanity, where the mirror from “King Gromause” lay. Holding it up, she whispered the enchantment then exhaled to fog the mirror. She used her finger to write, _Sister, please come to me tonight_. After she repeated the spell, the fog cleared and the message was sent. There was much she needed to tell Morgause. Perhaps Morgause could help her figure out who had healed her. That had been an exceedingly powerful spell and there couldn’t be many sorcerers strong enough to perform it.

 

xxxXxxx

 

After nightfall, Morgana crept to the balcony corridor near her chambers. She needed fresh air after being cooped up in her room all day, pretending to recover. Not too long later, she felt Morgause’s presence behind her. She smiled, then turned to say, “Morgause.”

“Sister. I waited long the other night. What happened? What is wrong?” The love and concern in Morgause’s voice filled Morgana with warmth.

“There is a lot to tell you, Morgause.”

“What is it?”

“I overheard Uther.”

“What?”

“Uther is my father. I am his daughter.”

“Uther?”

“He's lied to me all these years.”

“But this is wonderful news.” _What?_ _There is nothing_ wonderful _about being lied to about your heritage!_

“He disowned me. He wishes people to think that he's the ideal king. It's more important to him than his own flesh and blood.”

“But don't you see? This is glorious! You have a lawful claim to his crown.” _I don’t care about that right now_.

“No, Sister. You don't get it. He has to pay for this,” Morgana replied, just before the warning bells sounded. “You must go.” _So much for discussing my savior_.

“No, I shouldn’t leave you like this.” Morgause could sense something was amiss in Morgana.

“You have to or you’ll be found here.”

“Don’t do anything hasty, Morgana. Promise me!” Morgause kissed her on the cheek, but Morgana pulled away. “We must wait our turn,” Morgause left. Morgana knew she wouldn’t follow her sister’s advice; she’d made no promise. Uther would get his just reward for lying to her all these years. With the beginnings of a plan forming in her head, she walked back to her chambers to “go to bed.”

She sat at her vanity and absentmindedly began brushing her hair. Gwen came in a few minutes later to turn down the covers and help Morgana change. After a couple more minutes, Morgana put down her brush and stared out the window. Her plan was perfect—the storm outside and the search for the intruder would be sufficient distraction for her to carry it to completion. “Have they located the intruder?” she asked Gwen.

“Not yet. Seems like it's going to be a rough night,” Gwen replied.

“Yes.” There was a loud thunderclap.

“Do you want help changing for bed Morgana?”

“No, thank you Gwen. This storm will likely keep me awake for a while. I can manage it myself when I feel tired. You may go for the night.”

“Thank you, My Lady. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Gwen.”

After Gwen left, Morgana walked over to her wardrobe, pulled out her favorite red cloak and put it on. She then went to her vanity and pulled out its drawer. The dagger Arthur had given her lay before her eyes. She pulled it out and walked toward her table, sliding it in her belt as she went.

She looked up in surprise as footsteps came close to her chambers and the door flew open. It was that lucky meddler Merlin. _Not again!_ “Why are you here?” she sneered.

“Arthur asked me to look after you. He's concerned about the intruder,” he replied then closed the door. _Not likely_ , she thought.

“I don't need you.” The dismissal was clear. She walked toward the door but he ran to block her way.

“He was very adamant.” Morgana moved to shove Merlin out of the way, but he caught her arm and held on.

 Morgana gasped, shocked at his boldness. “Move out of my way!” Her eyes glowed with her anger and he and a torch were thrown against the wall. He was knocked out and her curtains were set on fire. She walked past him to the door then paused to look back at him. _He’ll probably wake up before he burns to death, too bad_. She turned and left her chambers.

Hiding from the search parties wasn't difficult. Most were concentrated outside the castle. When she reached Uther's chambers there were no guards. Smirking, she strolled right in and up to his bedside. He was asleep—perfect. _Your time is finished, Uther Pendragon_.

The storm raged outside as she unsheathed her dagger with a flourish. She held it with both hands high above her head, but before she could plunge it into his body, the window next to his bed shattered from the outside in. The force threw Morgana back against the wall; she reflexively dropped the dagger to the floor. Uther woke with a gasp.

“What's happening?”

“Ah . . . there was a fire, and I was frightened.” Morgana stood and stepped toward Uther, kicking the fallen dagger under the bed. “I yearned to be with you. You're the only one who makes me feel safe.” She leaned down and Uther hugged her.

Guards came in a few minutes to check on the King, ensuring he didn't cut himself on the glass. Arthur followed soon after, not quite believing what he was seeing. “What on _earth_ . . ?”

“A fire started in my chambers; I was scared so I came here. Then the storm blew the window in. It’s all so overwhelming!” She had tears in her eyes, so Arthur walked over to embrace her.

“Father, are you all right?”

“I am unharmed. Look after Morgana.”

“Come on; let’s go see to your chambers.” Keeping an arm around her, Arthur walked Morgana back to her chambers. The fire had been contained and a maidservant was cleaning up. “Would you feel better if I had Guinevere brought back here for the rest of the night?”

Morgana nodded meekly, but inside she was seething. Not only had she failed to kill Uther, but Merlin had gotten away. _Again_. She didn’t really want Gwen back, but her role as frightened ward required it. Arthur settled her on her bed then asked the maidservant to fetch Gwen. He stayed with her until Gwen arrived.

After Arthur left, Gwen helped Morgana into her nightgown and helped her into bed. She blew out all the candles and retired to the small servant’s antechamber adjacent to Morgana’s chambers. From here she could hear if Morgana called her. Both women settled down to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Morgana’s sleep was not restful. She dreamed of the night she fell down the stairs, in slow agonizing detail. In the darkness after the fall, she heard voices, endless voices: “ _How could this have happened?_ ”; “ _I will do everything I can, Sire_ ;” “ _Morgana is my daughter;_ ” “ _Ic_ _þe þurhhæle þin licsare mid þam sundorcræftas þære ealdaþ æ_!” Then the hazy figure—dark hair, pale face, red, blue and brown . . . Merlin grasping her arm, the shock . . . Merlin—dark hair, pale skin, always wore red, blue and brown. “ _Arthur asked me to look after you_.” The fire, a roar, thunder, window shattering . . . these whirled through her mind until she awoke with a gasp.

 _No_ , it couldn’t be. His voice, the words of the incantation . . . his hair, his face, his clothing. It couldn’t be, but it was. Her unconscious mind had pieced the puzzle together for her. _Merlin_ , the annoying, meddlesome, unassuming, clumsy servant had _magic_. And it was _powerful_ magic. _Where? How?_ He had healed her. _Why?_ He hated her, didn’t he? And like her, he was _here_ —the _worst_ place in Albion for a magic user to live. _Why?_ It didn’t make sense, any of it.

A thousand questions swirled through her mind. _Answers_. She needed answers. A look out the window told her it was far too early to seek them now. But she knew the paths he took through the castle; she could intercept him at any point in the coming day. First thing in the morning, he would be hers for questioning. First thing in the morning, she would have her answers.

xxxXxxx

Morgana sat in a chair at Arthur’s bedside. Merlin had to be the reason he and the prince always arrived home from quests unscathed. He never even wore armor. But why protect Arthur? What was in it for him? So she waited—and a little sleeping spell ensured that Arthur stayed asleep.

She waited only a little while longer before the door opened to reveal Merlin’s back. He had a tray in his hands. As he closed the door he yelled out, “Rise and shine! It’s time—” he cut off abruptly as he saw her sitting there. “What are _you_ doing here?” He quickly crossed to the table and sat the tray down, his eyes never leaving her.

 A quick spell locked the door. She stood and smirked at him.  “Well first off, I wanted to thank you,” she replied.

“You—what?” She’d caught him off guard; he was totally confused.

“You saved my life. With magic.”

His eyes went wide with shock. “No, I didn’t. What reason would I have? My life would be less complicated if you were out of it.”

“Yes, I was wondering that myself. And I intend to find out. Now.” She raised her hand, as if to cast a spell.

He flinched. “What makes you think I have magic?”

She dropped her hand. It was fun to see him flinch. “While I was dying, I felt a strong magical presence near me. I didn’t recognize it at first. That presence partially awoke my senses. I could hear and somewhat see the person who saved me. And he sounded and looked like you. And after last night when you tried to stop me, my mind put it together in a dream.”

“I’m just a simple peasant from a small village in the middle of nowhere. What could I know of magic?”

“Shall we find out?” She withdrew a dagger from a sleeve and moved to stab Arthur. Merlin was too far away to stop her conventionally, so he’d have to . . . suddenly her hands stopped in mid-air. She couldn’t move them, so she looked toward Merlin to see his eyes fading from gold to blue. “I knew it! Why—”

“You _will not_ harm him!” He said forcefully, cutting her off. Morgana blinked. He suddenly stood straighter, his arm out toward her. His face was hard, furious. He fairly _radiated_ power. She closed her eyes, and she could feel it—that cold presence that had been in the room with her when she was healed.

“Please release me. I don’t want to hurt Arthur; I just wanted to see you react!” she cried. “I swear!”

“Swear on the Old Religion.”

“I swear on the Old Religion that I will _never_ harm Arthur Pendragon.” The dagger flew from her hands and embedded into the door. At the same time, her arms continued their downward arc to hit Arthur. He stirred, but didn’t wake.

Merlin lowered his hand and folded his arms across his chest. “All right. Now you know. Yes, I saved your life. Don’t make me regret it.”

“But why?”

“Why what?” He looked genuinely puzzled.

“Why did you save my life?”

He looked down at the floor. “It’s complicated.”

“How so? You hate me, you would never save me.” She moved closer.

“You didn’t see everyone when they thought you were dying. Gwen was inconsolable. Arthur couldn’t focus and kept hitting things. And Uther . . . I’ve never seen him so mired in grief. Not even when you were ‘taken’ for a year. They love you Morgana, even though they don’t really know you.”

“But they’d condemn me if they knew what I am.”

“Would they? You just decided that they would, then went ahead and betrayed them. You didn’t even give them a chance.”

“But Uther hates everything to do with magic.”

“But he loves _you_. Don’t you think that might make him stop and think for a minute?”

“I can’t believe _you_ of all people are defending him. Don’t you hate him?”

“You’d think I would, wouldn’t you?” He put up a hand to rub the back of his neck. “It’s more that I pity him. A once great king corrupted by hatred. But Arthur loves him and he’s not quite ready to be king yet. If Uther died now, it would throw off Arthur’s destiny.”

“Destiny? What destiny? Does it have anything to do with why you protect him?”

“Figured that out, did you? Oh by the way—he doesn’t usually sleep this long . . . did you do something to him?”

“Sleeping spell.” She smirked. “Now, about this destiny?”

“I don’t suppose you’ve heard of any prophecies concerning the Once and Future King?”

“Morgause told me some. She dismissed them as fairytales.”

“She would. Hmmph.” He rolled his eyes. “The Once and Future King, aided by the powerful warlock Emrys, will restore magic to the land and unite all the lands of Albion. This will bring about a golden age of peace and prosperity. Arthur will be that king.”

“Arthur? You _must_ be joking. He hates magic as much as his father.” She glanced at the figure on the bed.

“Does he? Don’t you see how much he’s changed? He’s not nearly as prat-like as when I first came here. And no, I’m not taking the credit for that.”

“Does he know about your magic?”

“Well no, but he needs time to learn that magic can be used for good, not just evil. He’s starting to shake off Uther’s influence. I _told_ you there was another way, but you and Morgause aren’t helping with that.”

“I never thought . . .”

“No, you didn’t. And that’s my fault. I should have told you about my magic when you first came to me, but I was scared. So you ran off to Morgause who taught you that vengeance is the only way to achieve your goals. But it’s not—it only poisons you until you’re consumed with hate.”

“But she loves me, and she’s taught me how to use my magic.”

“What has she taught you? Has she taught you how to heal? Has she taught you how to defend those weaker than you? Has she taught you how to create? Or has she taught you how to attack, to destroy? Does she really love you or is she just using you to achieve _her_ goals?”

She cast her eyes down, thinking. What were her goals? What had they been before Morgause took her away? She wanted to hurt Uther, to destroy him, but everyone in Camelot had been asleep. _Suffering? Dying?_ She’d wanted freedom, yes, but not at the expense of her friends, her _family_. Somehow she’d come to believe everyone with magic needed to be freed and that killing Uther and bringing Camelot to its knees was the only way. A lot of people would be hurt that way. Innocent people, magical and non-magical. _Was it worth it?_ She wasn’t so sure anymore. And here was _Merlin_ , who used to be her friend, fighting for the same thing, but _differently_. “I—I don’t know anymore.”

He saw her doubt, and walked over to her and took her hands gently. She didn’t try to shake him off. “Morgana, it’s not too late to stop going down the path of hate.” He lifted her chin with a hand. “You can join me—help Arthur see the good magic can do. If anyone can do it, it’s you. You have the natural compassion and strength to change his mind. I know you do.”

Her mind was spinning. What was happening to her? “I—I need to think. Time. I need time to think.”

“Of course. I really should wake Arthur anyhow.” His eyes zeroed in on her bracelet. He knew it helped her sleep because it was enchanted. What if it had _other_ enchantments on it? “Before you go, would you mind if I examined your bracelet for a bit? I can return it by this evening.”

She looked puzzled, but handed him the bracelet. “Yes, that’s fine.” She started to turn for the door.

“Oh, Morgana.” She paused. “Whenever you want to talk again, you know where to find me.” Just as she reached the door, he called out softly, “I believe in you.”

xxxXxxx

When Morgana reached her chambers, she found Gwen pacing anxiously. “My Lady! Where have you been? And you’re dressed? Wh—”

“Gwen.” She had to stop her rambling before she worked herself into a tizzy. “I woke early and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I dressed myself and went for a walk.” That excuse had never failed her, and it was even true.

“Well. Okay then. Your breakfast is on the table, and in an hour you have—”

Morgana cut her off again. “Gwen. Would you please tell whomever concerned that I won’t be coming? I have a headache and fear it’s from my lack of sleep. I feel I need to lie down for a few hours to recover. I don’t wish to be disturbed.”

“Of course, My Lady. I’ll see to it right away. Would you like me to ask Gaius for a remedy?”

“No, thank you.”

“As you wish. Have a good rest.” Gwen inclined her head and left the room.

 Morgana walked over to her bed and fell on it, face down. The way her mind was whirling almost felt like a headache, but she really just wanted to scream. She rolled onto her back. Time to sort out these thoughts.

Was what Merlin said about Morgause true?  Was Morgause just using her? She remembered back to when she first saw Morgause. She could have killed Arthur, but didn’t. Then Arthur went to see her to fulfill his promise. But he’d come back very angry, walking through the halls like he wanted to kill someone. He’d gone into the council room like that, but had come out nearly sobbing. But he never talked about what had happened. She’d seen Uther, Merlin, Gaius, and Leon outside the chamber too, and none of them had talked. But if Merlin was sincere in wanting to help her, he would tell her, wouldn’t he?

And then there was the poisoning. She’d trusted him. They’d worked together for the common good several times. Why would he turn around and kill her? He’d said he hadn’t wanted to, but she’d taken that as a lie to keep her from revealing the poisoning. Was there another reason he’d done it? What _was_ it? If he wanted her to believe him about Morgause, he’d _have_ to give her some answers.

She thought about what he’d said about Morgause only teaching her dark magic. So now she thought back to her year with Morgause. After she’d recovered from the poisoning, Morgause had taught her about magic. Morgana learned to sense it within herself and others. How to focus on getting it to do what she wanted. She taught her how to summon objects, manipulate the elements, cast protective shields for herself, and spells to attack others or destroy objects. _Oh my . . . those_ were _offensive, dark magic_. She didn’t even know the word for “create.” And healing? She only knew how to mend small wounds- cuts, bruises, scrapes –nothing more serious. She could do these things, but she realized she didn’t really have _control_. Last night she’d gotten _angry_ and that emotion triggered the magic that threw Merlin against the wall. That was dangerous for _many_ reasons!

There was no other option. She had to talk to Merlin again; everything seemed to come back to him. _Why is that?_ He was just a servant . . . who happened to have powerful magic and managed to thwart her and Morgause at every turn. And why did he keep that magic a secret from her? She could have used his support when she’d been so scared of _her_ magic. It seems that _her_ answers to her questions had only led to more questions.

She found that her thoughts were more ordered now, and it really _had_ made her tired. So she took off her shoes and settled underneath the covers. Sleep came easily.

xxxXxxx

Morgana woke to the sound of her door opening; it was Gwen. She carried a tray, presumably with lunch on it. “Hello Gwen.”

Gwen gasped and put a hand to her chest. “Oh, Morgana, you startled me. I didn’t know you were awake. Did I wake you?”

“No, it’s all right Gwen. I feel pretty well-rested now.”

“Oh good. I’ve brought lunch. Oh, I forgot to ask—how’s your headache?”

“Gone completely, thank you. And lunch sounds really good right now!”

“All right then.” Gwen took the food off the tray and settled it onto the table. “Would you like a bath afterwards? Or maybe just a change of clothes?”

“Yes, let’s change my clothes. And Gwen, would you mind visiting Gaius and asking him for a sleeping draught? Then you can come back and help me change.”

“Of course Morgana.”

“Thank you Gwen. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Gwen left the room. _Good_. Merlin should be back in the physician’s chambers by now—he had a break in the early afternoon. Gwen’s visit _should_ send the message that Morgana wanted to talk to him this evening. _And we won’t be interrupted this time_ , she though deviously.

xxxXxxx

Merlin was indeed back in the physician’s chambers. He routinely came back here after delivering Arthur’s lunch, to eat his own and see if Gaius needed assistance. Lunch had been consumed and Gaius had left, but he remained sitting at the table. It was a good time to examine Morgana’s bracelet.

He pulled the bracelet out of his jacket pocket and turned it around in his hands. It was beautifully designed—Gaius had told him the tree represented the house of Gorlois. Morgause had gotten it from her mother and had given it to Morgana later, probably after her duel with Arthur.

Now to see what made it work. He stilled his hands, then closed his eyes to relax. There was his magic, humming through his body, warm and comforting.  He directed it to focus through his “sixth sense”—the one that detected magical people and objects. Concentrating on the bracelet, he “felt” the sleep spell Morgause had used—it worked so well because Morgause had made it specific to Morgana. But there was something else there underneath the sleep spell, something that—

There was a knock on the door which snapped Merlin out of his trance-like state. He reflexively dropped the bracelet and grabbed a nearby rag to toss over it. Glancing at the door, he called out ,“Enter,” and watched Gwen come in.

“Hey Merlin,” she said.

“Gwen, hey. What can I do for you?” He replied as he stood.

“Oh, nothing for me, thanks. But Morgana asked me if she could get a sleeping draught tonight. She didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Ah, I see. Tell her I’ll bring it to her tonight, no problem.” He _did_ see. This must be Morgana’s way of requesting his presence so they could talk again. He knew she didn’t really need the draught, so his reply would reassure her that he’d be there.

“Thanks Merlin. Enjoying your afternoon break huh?”

“Yeah, it’s amazing I got one today. The prat has really laid it on me. You don’t think you could get him to ease up a bit, could you?” He asked with a cheeky grin.

Gwen blushed. “Sorry Merlin, I don’t think even I can influence him _that_ much.”

He chuckled. “Well I thought I’d give it a shot. Can’t blame me for trying.”

“No, I really can’t,” she sighed. “I’d better get back to Morgana. She’s been a bit out of sorts today and needs some extra pampering. Thanks for the help.” _I’ll_ bet _she’s out of sorts_.

“You’re welcome. See you later.”

“Bye Merlin.” With that, she was out the door.

Merlin turned back to the table and picked up the bracelet again. He went back to his room, both to avoid further interruption and to retrieve his spell book. Closing the door behind him, he walked over to his bed, knelt down and retrieved the spell book. He sat on the bed and again extended his sixth sense. There was the sleep spell; he focused harder to feel past it. _Ah, there it is, the spell underneath_. He prodded further then gasped as he felt what this second spell was about. It was dark, sinister magic designed to change someone’s very nature—in this case it would gradually, slowly change the wearer’s outlook from positive to negative. Love would turn to hate, light to darkness, compassion to bitterness, and so forth.

He came out of his “trance” again and started to think. A spell like this would explain how she came to sympathize with Morgause without anyone seeing the change. The change was wrought slowly, like a poison designed to kill gradually. As he thought about it, that’s pretty much what it was. Morgause had been so clever. She knew if Morgana had changed suddenly her friends would have noticed. He doubted Morgana knew this—this kind of control would infuriate her, violate her sense of independence. As it was, he now had a very compelling argument to win Morgana back to his side.

The outer door banged open again. This time he heard Gaius’s voice call out, “Merlin.”

“Gaius, back here,” he replied to the old physician.

Gaius walked back to Merlin’s room and entered. Merlin had started flipping through his book to find something like he’d just encountered with the bracelet. “What’s this then?” Gaius asked.

Suddenly Merlin stopped turning pages. He took a moment to read through what he’d found. “Here, Gaius, look.” He stood and showed Gaius the page he’d stopped on.

“Gebære gewylde? Mind control? To what does this relate?”

Merlin reached back to the bed for the bracelet. “Morgana’s bracelet. It’s enchanted not only with a sleeping spell, but one designed to change someone’s _nature_. In this case, it changes from positive to negative.”

Gaius took the bracelet from him to examine closely. “Well I don’t have your senses, but I can definitely fell the sleeping spell. If you’re right, this explains her change from good to evil.”

“This spell causes the change so slowly that no one around her would notice. And now that I think about it, it’s really more like _heart_ control.”

“So we have to figure out how to break the spell.”

“Yes, and hopefully that will stop it and reverse its effects on her. We could have the kind, compassionate Morgana back!”

“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. We still have to find the counter-spell. How much time do you have left before you have to go back to Arthur?”

“We’d better get going! Hey, whatever happened to that book the goblin used to frame me? It could be useful.”

“Uh . . .” Gaius cleared his throat. “I generously offered to dispose of it. I buried it in my grain barrel.”

Merlin gave him the raised eyebrow look. “Gaius, you rebel you.”

“Well, at least I anticipated the need for it and saved it.”

“True. Let’s have a look at it then. I’ll search my book, you search that one.”

Gaius went into the outer chamber to retrieve the book while Merlin sat back down on his bed. When Gaius returned he sat next to him. They each began looking through their respective books, pausing now and then to read further.

Finally Merlin closed his book with a growl of frustration. “Nothing helpful in here besides that one page.”

Gaius kept paging through his book. “It may take a combination of spells, or we may have to invent one.”

“I really hope not. That really hurts my brain.”

“What brain?” Gaius teased.

“Oh ha ha,” Merlin replied. He glanced out the window. “Looks like my time is about up. I’d better get to Arthur before he can think of something really horrible for me to do.”

“I’ll keep looking while you’re gone. You’ll be back for dinner?”

“Unless I get that extra chore. Hopefully you’ll find something. I’d like to remove that spell before I give the bracelet back to her. She’s expecting it back tonight.”

“That doesn’t give us much time. But this book is older than yours, so I’m optimistic. See you later then.”

“Bye Gaius.” And with a wave, Merlin was off to start Arthur’s evening.


	3. Chapter 3

Uther, Arthur and Morgana dined together that evening, which meant that Merlin and Gwen were in attendance. As he stood behind Arthur, Merlin saw Morgana look up at him, a question in her eyes. She wanted confirmation he’d understood her message. He gave her a slow nod and saw her eyes brighten in comprehension. She gave a quick nod back and looked away. This was going to be a long evening, he could already tell.

After the dinner service, the royals departed to their various activities, and Merlin went back to Gaius’s chambers. Gaius was at work on a potion; he took that as a good sign. “Tell me you found something.”

“I did,” Gaius replied, and put down the tools he was using. He walked over to the other table where he’d laid the book. Merlin followed. “It says here that you must take the enchanted person and the enchanted object to the lake of Avalon. They must both be fully immersed in the lake while the counter-spell is recited. Only then will both be freed from the enchantment.”

“That’s not too difficult. Well, getting Morgana there maybe, but—”

“There’s a special condition,” Gaius interrupted. “The person to be freed must _want_ to be freed. Unless that condition is met, no amount of magic will change the enchanted one back.”

“Oh great. So not only do I have to talk her into going, I have to talk her into forsaking the only person she thinks loves her. Simplicity itself!” he retorted.

“Merlin, stop. You’ll never convince her with that attitude. From what you told me earlier, she’s already starting to doubt Morgause’s intent toward her. You have to build on that. The bracelet will be good proof for your argument. Use that to your advantage.”

“You’re right Gaius. She’ll hate the fact that Morgause has that kind of control over her. When I take the bracelet and the potion to her, I’ll explain it. I expect she’ll have more questions from our little chat this morning. This has got to work. For the safety of Camelot, she has to come back to us.”

xxxXxxx

It was late. Very late. A couple hours after Morgana’s normal turn-in time. But thanks to her nap and the questions roaming around her head, she wasn’t tired. After Gwen had left for the night, she’d started her waiting by sitting at her table. The she started tapping on the table with her fingers. When she noticed she was doing that, she got up and started to pace. After her feet got tired, she flopped down on her bed and started looking for patterns in her ceiling. She’d just traced her fifth unicorn when there was a light tapping at the door. Springing off the bed, she ran to the door and flung it open, intending to give Merlin a tongue-lashing. She stopped when she noticed the condition he was in. “What happened to you?’

He stood there, bent over and gasping for air. “Just ran . . . all the way . . . from the stables, to my room, to here. Arthur wants to hunt early in the morning so I had to prepare tonight.”

“Well come in then, have a seat. Get your breath back.” He entered and she closed the door behind him. They both walked over to the table where he collapsed in a chair. “Water?” He nodded so she poured him a goblet.

“Thank you,” he replied, and sipped a bit. “Oh, here.” He pulled the sleeping draught and bracelet from his pockets and sat them on the table.

She sat across from him, unsure how to start the conversation. Finally, she simply decided to jump right in. “Why didn’t you tell me about your magic before?” _Oops, I meant to sound more_ angry _than_ hurt.

He let out an ironic chuckle. “You managed to touch one of my biggest regrets right off. But you deserve to know. The truth is I always wanted to tell you, but I was advised not to. Over and over in fact.”

“Gaius,” she muttered.

“And . . . one other. They told me it was dangerous. That you would turn me in to the king. Then you realized you had magic, and they warned me _again_ not to say anything. They didn’t want you to realize the full extent of your magic because . . .” He paused.

“Because why? And I never would have told anyone. You were my _friend_.”

“Because of your destiny—to ultimately destroy Camelot, and mine and Arthur’s destiny.”

“Oh, I . . . never knew that. But did you ever stop and think that you could have helped me, steered me away from that destiny?”

“Yes. And that’s why it’s one of my biggest regrets. I withheld my help and instead you turned to Morgause. That led to one of my other regrets . . .”

“Poisoning me?” she asked bitterly. He nodded.

“I thought I had no choice. I was told you were the vessel of the sleeping spell and you had to die to end it. Given the choice between sparing you and saving Camelot . . . well it wasn’t really a choice. One had to die so many could live. I’m sorry.” He looked down at his hands on the table.

“I had _no_ idea Morgause had done that! The day before, I got a note from her asking me to meet her that night. When I did, she asked me if I was ready to help her end Uther’s reign. I agreed, and I must have fallen asleep somehow. The next thing I knew, I woke up in my bed. Gwen came in, yawning, and you know the rest. I only wanted Uther gone; I didn’t want everyone else to die in the process. I didn’t know.”

He looked back up at her and reached a hand over to lay on hers. “Morgana, Morgause used you. She must have put you to sleep and cast the spell on you. That must be why the knight didn’t hurt you—it would have ended the spell.” He paused again. “I believe that you didn’t want all of Camelot to die, but _she_ didn’t care. She would do anything to achieve her goals. As long as Uther perished, she didn’t care who else died in the process.”

“I know she would,” Morgana said quietly. “Merlin—I need to know something. What did she do that made Arthur so angry? It was after Morgause had beaten him in that duel. You two snuck off to see her, and when you came back, he was furious. What happened?”

“I probably shouldn’t tell you. If I did and Uther found out . . . I’d lose my head. Can I trust you?” He chuckled at himself again. “Before today I wouldn’t have dreamed of asking you that.”

She looked him right in the eye. “You can trust me.”

He stared back into her eyes for a long moment then nodded. “All right. You need to know what Morgause has done wrong. Okay.” He thought for a minute or so. “When we got to Morgause, she challenged Arthur and he passed. Because of that, she granted him his heart’s desire, which happened to be wanting to know what she knew about his mother. But she took it a step further than that. She brought Igraine back from the dead for a short time.” Morgana inhaled sharply. “I know. Igraine ended up sharing the truth of his birth—he was born of magic.”

“Uther used magic to gain an heir?! That lying hypocrite! As if I needed another reason to see him dead! Why didn’t you—”

He cut her off. “Morgana, calm down. Please. Let me finish.” She took a few deep breaths and nodded. “Naturally Arthur reacted much the same way you just did. When we got back, he grabbed his sword from his saddle and stormed off. I knew he was off to get answers from his father, and was probably angry enough to seriously harm him, if not kill him. I ran after him, but Leon didn’t let me in until I explained what was happening. When I finally got in, Arthur had Uther backed into his chair and the point of his sword was over Uther’s heart. Then I lied to Arthur. I told him Morgause had made up Igraine to feed him lies about his birth. That she did this to drive a wedge between him and his father.”

“But why? Your life, and mine, would have been easier if you’d let Arthur kill him.”

“Yes. But Arthur would have regretted it for the rest of his life. That one act would have tainted his reign and hardened his heart. Besides that, he wasn’t ready to take the throne. His destiny would have been wiped out. Magic wouldn’t have had a chance.”

“I didn’t think of that. But still, Morgause had told the truth.”

“No Morgana, you didn’t think. You’re too impulsive. But yes, Morgause mostly told the truth. But her entire objective was to divide Arthur and Uther. Even if he hadn’t killed Uther, Arthur would have been poisoned against him. Maybe nothing would have happened, but maybe Arthur would have deposed Uther. That would probably have led to civil war, death, destruction . . .”

“Okay, I get it. I know what she’s capable of. Our current plans . . .” She paused there. Death and destruction were the least bothersome points of those plans.

“There’s something else you should know about Morgause’s plans.” He picked up her bracelet. “I know this helps you sleep at night. Dreamless sleep?” She nodded. “That must be a huge relief for you.” Another nod. “I’m glad you’re sleeping better. I could feel that when I first saw your bracelet. But something else about it caught my attention. That’s why I asked to borrow it this morning. When I had a few minutes, I sat down to examine it deeper. It’s hard to explain how I do this—I sort of focus my magic and _feel_ into it. What I found really shocked me.”

She looked really apprehensive, and a bit afraid. “What is it?”

“You won’t like this, but . . .” He took a deep breath. “Before Morgause cast the sleep spell on it, she cast another spell on it. This first spell was designed to change your very nature. In your case, it’s changed the way you see things—people, situations, whatever—from positive to negative. She designed the change to occur _gradually_ so neither you nor those around you would notice. What you loved you’d come to hate. She manipulated you to win you over to her side.”

Morgana sat there in shock. She could hardly believe what she’d just heard—Morgause, her sister, had controlled her mind, her heart. But Morgause loved her—had cured her from the poison, taken care of her, nurtured her magic, taught her about herself, and taken away her fear to make her stronger. How could she do this—this evil _thing_? “Are you sure about this?” she asked weakly.

“Yes, unfortunately. I wish I wasn’t—I wouldn’t wish anyone to be controlled like that.”

“Can you show me?”

“Show you? Oh, show you how to detect the spell? Yeah, sure. It’s a pretty useful skill.” He handed her the bracelet. As she held it, he put his hands under hers. “Okay, close your eyes. You don’t have to but I find it easier if I do. Now, feel your magic. Pull it forward. Concentrate and focus it, then extend that focus out to the bracelet. It’s kind of like seeing or touching, but with your mind.”

“I . . . sense something? Oh, it seems to make me drowsy.”

“That’s the sleeping spell. Now you need to, um, dig deeper. Try to reach _under_ that spell.”

“Ooh, it’s hard, but I feel . . . something.” He could see her forehead begin to perspire.

“All right Morgana, take a deep breath or two and push further. I _know_ you have the power to do this.”

“I feel . . . I feel . . . oh!” Her eyes opened involuntarily, shining bright gold. “It’s, it’s . . . oh Morgause, why did you do this? _Oh why?_ ” Her eyes closed again, and she would have fallen forward had Merlin not been there. He stood from his chair to sit next to her. Her head and shoulders slumped forward and she broke into violent sobs. Every now and then she’d wail “why?” or “Morgause.”

He put an arm around her shoulders. “Shh, Morgana,” he said soothingly. But he let her cry it out. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be used and betrayed like that. By a family member no less!

After a while her sobbing tapered off and she stilled. He reached for the clean handkerchief in his pocket and handed it to her wordlessly. “Thank you,” she said in a rough voice, and began dabbing at her eyes.

“I’m so sorry Morgana. I—I can help.”

“How can you help me? I’ve betrayed you, betrayed everyone, for nothing.”

“I can help you remove the spell, from you and from the bracelet.”

“You would do that? Why, after all I’ve done to you? I don’t deserve it.”

“Morgana, I care about what happens to you. We were— _are_ –friends, and I would do _anything_ for my friends.” He took both her hands again and squeezed them gently.

“All right. Yes. I want to be freed from this spell!”

“Great! I’ll start making preparations in the morning. We have to go someplace”

“We have to travel?”

“Yeah, to the lake of Avalon. You and the bracelet have to lie underwater in the lake while an incantation is said over you. I’ll do that bit, no worries. Though we should probably take Arthur . . . and Gwen with us. Make up some silly quest or something. It would look wrong if just you and I went together. Not that I would mind that.” He gave her an awkward grin and blushed.

“Thank you Merlin! I still don’t understand how you can forgive me so easily, but I’m grateful.” She gave him a bright smile.

“No worries. I’m just glad we’re friends again. And this time, I’ll be there for you. Whatever you need, just ask.”

“Oh, by the way, you were right about what Morgause taught me. All of it was dark magic—things to make me her perfect evil pawn. And I obviously don’t have very good control, in general. As you found out last night. I’m sorry about that.” She frowned and looked down.

“Hey,” he said, and reached one of his hands to lift up her chin. “It’s all right. I can help you with your magic too. We can even share what we know—I’ll bet some things she taught you can be used for good.”

“You’d do that too? You’re already doing so much for me.”

“Well, it’s partly selfish on my part. I’d like to spend time with you and learn what you know. Besides, we’ll both get stronger this way.”

“Okay then! I can’t believe everything that’s happened in the last day. So much has changed—it’s all a bit overwhelming.” She let out a huge yawn. “My goodness, so sorry.”

“You need your rest. Come on, get in your bed and I’ll give you your first magic lesson.” He pulled her up and led her over to her bed.

She climbed into her bed, sat up against the headboard and pulled the covers over herself. Looking up at him, she said, “Okay, I’m ready.”

He laughed a little at this. She looked like a small child waiting for a bedtime story. “All right you.” He sat next to her, cupped his hands together and said clearly, “ _Blóstmá_.” His eyes flashed gold and he opened his hands to reveal a small yellow rose. He bowed with a grand flourish, held out the rose and said, “For you, Milady.”

She giggled and took the rose from his hand. “Why thank you, kind sir.” She inhaled its scent deeply. “Did you know roses are my favorite flower?”

“A little bird _might_ have mentioned it to me.” He flashed her a cheeky grin. “Now, get some rest. Goodnight Milady.”

“Goodnight Merlin.” She snuggled down into her covers while he waved a hand to douse the candles.

At the door, Merlin turned to look at her. _I’m glad she’s finally come back to me._ Us _. I mean_ us. He rolled his eyes at himself, then left the room to catch what few hours of sleep he could.

xxxXxxx

Merlin woke up earlier than he wanted, but before Gaius had to wake him. That was always an achievement. He yawned, stretched and sat up in bed. Sitting there, he thought about the last night with Morgana and smiled. She was his ally again! Now he had to free her from Morgause’s spell. To that end, he used the few free minutes he had to think of a way to get the four of them to the lake of Avalon.

Suddenly an idea came to him. It was cheesy and sappy, but it would appeal to Arthur _because_ of that. A nighttime picnic at a beautiful lake would appeal to the side of him that wanted to impress Gwen with romantic gestures. The full moon would lend a nice touch. Now the idea had to be presented to Arthur in just the right way. _Morgana could do that_.

He went to his small desk for a quill, ink and parchment. A note would get the idea to Morgana. He started writing, explaining the idea and her role. Now he just had to “accidentally” bump into Gwen and ask her to pass on the note. He glanced up at the window. _Yikes, time to go_!

Throwing his clothes on, he walked next door to see what today’s breakfast adventure would be. He sat at the table, trying not to think about the mystery stuff in his bowl. “So,” he ventured, “I talked to Morgana last night.”

Gaius perked up. “And you told her about the bracelet?”

“Yeah. She’d had no idea what Morgause had done. It upset her so much she cried nonstop for several minutes. And she wants to be freed from its influence, so that’s my next job.” He thought for a minute and said excitedly, “Gaius, she’s on our side again!”

“You mean she’s started her path _back_ to our side. It will take a lot of patience and support to truly win her back.”

“I know. I’m prepared to do all that. And I have you, Arthur and Gwen to help. Ooh, I’d better go feed Prince Prat before he gets irritable enough to throw me in the stocks. Bye Gaius!” He tossed off a cheery wave as he opened the door and left the room.

He ran down corridors toward Morgana’s chambers, spotting Gwen headed up the staircase. “Gwen! He called. She stopped and he hurried to catch up. “Hey Gwen, would you give this to Morgana for me?” he asked, and handed over the folded parchment.

“What’s this?” she asked, slightly suspicious.

“Oh, um . . . when I took her her sleeping draught last night, I recited a poem I’d read earlier and she wanted a copy of it. So I wrote it out for her.”

“ _Real_ ly,” she replied teasingly. “Okay Merlin, I’ll give it to her. You have a nice day now!” She winked and continued on her way.

 _Ugh_. He rolled his eyes at himself. Now Gwen thought he had a thing for Morgana. Did no one think men and women could simply be friends? He shook his head and continued on to Arthur’s chambers.


	4. Chapter 4

Morgana was lying in bed, awake, when Gwen entered her room. She’d been trying, without success, to replicate the spell Merlin had showed her last night. Gwen’s knock gave her the excuse to take a break before she burnt something down from sheer frustration.

“Good morning, My Lady!” Gwen greeted her cheerfully.

“Good morning Gwen. Shall we start our day then?” Morgana replied and got out of bed.

“Oh, before I forget, here's the poem you asked Merlin for. He asked me to give it to you.” She watched Morgana's face closely.

Morgana's face betrayed no surprise. She had plenty of acting experience thanks to Morgause. “Thank you Gwen. It really is the sweetest little rhyme.” She unfolded the parchment and read the note while Gwen selected her dress:

“ _Let's try this— come visit Arthur after breakfast. Tell him you'd like to picnic at the lake, but want it to be a moonlight picnic. Then we'd have to sleep there. And while the other two sleep, we can do what we need to do. I'll be there with Arthur to back you up, should you need it_.”

He _would_ come up with something romantic like that, wouldn't he? It seemed a reasonable enough scheme. Hopefully she could talk Arthur into it.

Gwen emerged from her wardrobe, so Morgana slipped behind her screen to change. “Gwen, I fancy a little chat with Arthur after breakfast. I've had an idea for a bit of fun this evening.”

“Sounds good, Morgana.”

Morgana finished dressing then quickly ate her breakfast. She kept fighting that inner voice that wanted to hurt Merlin rather than cooperate with him. _You're not going to win, Morgause!_ They _were_ going to beat this unnatural enchantment, and she'd be free again.

When she was done, she waited briefly while Gwen tidied up breakfast. Right after she was done, they left for Arthur's chambers. Upon arriving, Morgana knocked. When Merlin opened the door, he smiled and nodded at her to enter. She smiled back and entered, Gwen trailing behind.

“Morgana! To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” Arthur asked.

“Well Arthur, I've had a wonderful idea to get out of the castle, but it's an evening activity. A moonlight picnic by the lake. The King won't let me out at night with just Gwen, but if you came out with us . . .”

“Oh I see. You need me for security. I see how it is.” He pouted.

“Yes, well it's half a day's ride to the lake, but it will look spectacular with the full moon rising over it. So we'll have to stay overnight, but it will be well worth it.”

“All right, I'll ask Father, but he shouldn't have a problem with it. _Mer_ lin will get provisions together and ready our horses. Will we get there in time if we leave after lunch?”

“Yes, that should be perfect. Thank you Arthur! This will be so much fun!” She looked past Arthur to Merlin, who nodded subtly then went back to his work. “Well, we'll see you two after lunch then. Bye!” She nodded at Arthur while Gwen curtsied. They turned and left the room, heading back to Morgana's chambers.

“This will be so fun, won't it Gwen?” Morgana tossed out.

“Oh yes, My Lady. I have to admit that it’ll be refreshing to be out of the castle for a couple days.” Gwen replied.

“Let's go get ready then!” Morgana nearly jumped up and down in excitement, but that would have been overdoing the enthusiasm a bit. So they continued walking to her chambers, discussing what they'd need on the way.

xxxXxxx

By lunchtime, the girls were prepared. Gwen had helped Merlin prepare and pack a special dinner and something for breakfast. Morgana shared her lunch with Gwen. Then they gathered their things and headed down to the courtyard to meet up with the boys. _Just like the old days, when the four of us rode out on some adventure_ , Morgana thought. The thought triggered a feeling of nostalgia, and she smiled.

Arthur and Merlin were attaching various things to their saddles when the girls walked up to them. “Ah, Morgana, Guinevere,” Arthur acknowledged them.

“Arthur, Merlin,” Morgana replied. “Great day for a trip, isn't it?” She smiled broadly.

“Indeed it is,” Arthur said, and resumed packing.

“Milady,” Merlin said next to her. “If you'll allow me . . .” He nodded, indicating her bags.

“Oh yes, thank you Merlin.”

While he worked at readying her horse, he leaned a little closer to her and whispered, “Good work this morning. Arthur went for it surprisingly easily.”

“It's all because of my amazing wit and abundant charm,” she whispered back. They both laughed quietly.

“That'll do it, Milady,” he said, louder.

“Thanks again Merlin,” she replied at the same volume.

“Let's get going then,” Arthur said. They all mounted their horses, and nudged them to canter.

Soon they were out of Camelot proper. “I know the way,” Merlin said, and rode his horse to the front, next to Arthur. And thus began their trip to the lake of Avalon.

xxxXxxx

About six hours later they finally reached the lake. It had been an uneventful trip, full of talk, banter and plenty of laughing. Dusk was falling as they arrived, so Gwen and Merlin rushed to set up a blanket and prepare the food. They built a fire behind the blanket so it wouldn't ruin the view.

The four of them sat on the blanket, settling down to eat. They watched the moon as it rose, casting a glow over the distant snow-capped mountains. As it moved over the lake, they each became lost in their own thoughts.

Merlin tried like mad to think of anything _besides_ Freya. Losing her still hurt, even almost two years later. With a huge effort, he managed to focus on what he was here to do—freeing Morgana from her sister's evil spell. He'd have to incant the spell quickly so Morgana didn't drown. It was funny how, just a few days ago, he wouldn't have minded hearing that Morgana had drowned. _Things are changing for the better_ , he thought.

Morgana thought about what she would do once she was freed. The prospect of learning new magic excited her. Having another magic user nearby would be so helpful. When one of them felt particularly lonely or repressed, they could go to the other. It could be a while before Arthur took the throne, but she wouldn't be waiting alone. And she'd be learning and _living_.

Arthur and Gwen wished they could sit next to each other and hold hands. It _was_ a very romantic night, after all. Maybe, if they were alone, they could even _cuddle_. They sighed simultaneously and caught the other doing so, glancing quickly at each other, then away. Merlin noticed this and smiled. _Another thing worth waiting for_.

When the moon wandered directly overhead, Morgana sighed and said, “It's late—I think I'll go to bed now.” She got up and walked to where they'd put the bedrolls.

Gwen and Merlin took that as their cue to clean up what was left of the meal. Arthur got up and threw a log on the fire. They each placed their bedrolls around the fire and settled down. “Goodnight's” were murmured and everyone closed their eyes to rest.

Of course only Arthur and Gwen actually slept. After they'd settled into deep regular breathing, Merlin opened his eyes to see Morgana peering at him from across the fire. He nodded at her and they both sat up. She tiptoed over to him. He picked up his bag and pointed into the forest.

They walked into the forest a short distance away so they could converse without having to whisper. “Okay, are you ready for this?” Merlin asked her.

“Definitely. Yes,” she replied.

“Got your bracelet?” She nodded. “Good. Here's what we'll do. Hold the bracelet in your hand and walk into the water until you're about waist deep. When I give you the signal,” he waved, “take a deep breath and duck under the water. Every bit of you has to be under or it won't work, so it's good you've braided your hair.”

“How will I know when it's finished and I can come up?” She asked.

“Ah, yeah. That would be good to know.” He took out the spell book and opened to the marked page. “Let's see. It says here, 'the victim will feel a lightening, as if a weight is being removed. This naturally propels them upward and out of the water.' Oh, well that's good.”

She glared at him. “You’d think so, wouldn't you?” She took a deep breath. “Okay, let's do this.”

They walked quickly back to the lakeshore. Merlin paused as they passed Gwen and Arthur. He thought for a moment then moved closer to them. Morgana went to her pack for her bracelet and noticed he was no longer behind her. She turned around to look; he put a finger to his lips, signaling her to keep quiet. He raised his hand over Arthur and whispered, “ _Swefe nu_.” After tiptoeing over to Gwen, he repeated the spell over her. When he finished, he walked over to Morgana. “It's a sleep spell. It'll keep them in a deeper sleep so we won't be interrupted,” he whispered.

When they got to the shore, he stopped her by reaching out for her hand. He walked around to face her and said, “This _will_ work. I believe in you.” He squeezed her hand and led her into the water.

Morgana waded in until she was waist deep then turned around to face Merlin. He had his nose buried in the book, mouth moving as he practiced the spell's pronunciation. Finally he flashed her a huge grin and waved his hand. She grabbed her braid, inhaled deeply and plunged underwater.

Merlin watched her from the shore. As soon as she was under, he looked down at the book and read the spell, “ _Fram þes sáwol áclænsaaþ sé wirpe geworuht unwilles uppan hit_.” He felt the magic swirl through him, then rush out to Morgana. He swayed a bit. When it reached her, she glowed gold for a few seconds then rose up out of the water, squeezing the water from her hair. She always looked beautiful, but there was something about her now that enhanced her beauty. It was almost as if she'd absorbed that golden glow somehow.

Fortunately he'd thought to pack an extra blanket. He put down the book so he could pull the blanket from his bag. She walked up to him, holding her arms to her chest for warmth. He gave her the blanket, which she wrapped around herself before walking to her pack for dry clothing. He quickly turned his back to her to give her some privacy.

When Morgana finished dressing, she walked back to Merlin and put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly but fortunately didn't yell. After he turned to face her, he took her hands and asked, “How do you feel?”

“I feel . . . wonderful! Light, happy, free, strong . . . it's so hard to describe!” She paused to throw her arms around him. “Thank you so much Merlin!” She stepped back but left her hands on his shoulders.

He stood there with his mouth hanging open like a fish. Morgana had hugged him! “Uhh . . .” He stuttered.

“Oh close your mouth. You look like a fish that just jumped out of the lake,” she joked.

Merlin closed his mouth then broke out in a huge grin. It worked! Morgause's spell was broken. “Can I see the bracelet again?” He asked.

“Sure,” she replied and handed it over.

He concentrated and reached out his magic to it. There was the sleep spell on the surface, but he probed deeper again. _Nothing_. The controlling spell was _gone_. “Yes!” He yelled, then clapped a hand over his mouth and glanced at the sleepers. _Still out_. Morgana raised an eyebrow at him, but he continued, quieter. “The controlling spell is gone. I can't even sense a _trace_ of it. You can still wear it to help sleep, if you like—it's harmless now.”

“Maybe, but maybe not. I want to see how I sleep now that my mind is my own again.”

“Oh yeah. Speaking of that, we'd better go back to bed. Sleep for real this time.”

“Will Arthur and Gwen wake up normally?”

“Oh yes. They'll be just as sunny, or in Arthur's case, as grouchy, as ever.”

“Good.”

He picked up her hand again and led her to her bedroll. “Goodnight Morgana. Sweet dreams.”

“Goodnight Merlin.” She climbed into her bedroll and was asleep in just a few minutes.

He walked over to his bedroll and laid down in it, feeling too excited to sleep. Just as he was beginning to fall asleep, he heard a soft voice call out, “Merlin.”

Opening his eyes, he looked over at his three friends. All were asleep, as far as he could tell. Just as he was going to close his eyes again, there came another, “Merlin.”

He sat up and looked around slowly. When his eyes came to the lakeshore, they fell upon a female figure he’d know anywhere—“Freya . . .”

“Merlin.” She held out her hand to him. He rose and walked toward her. She was standing in the water, ankle-deep.

“Freya . . . What? . . . How? . . .” As he got within arm’s length of her, she moved her hand so her palm faced forward.  He put his hand out in like manner, and their palms met. Merlin shivered at the contact, though her hand was neither warm nor cold. As he stepped closer, she twisted her hand so their fingers became interlaced. He opened his mouth to speak again, but she put a finger over it. He closed it.

“Merlin, my love, it’s so good to see you,” she said at last, and reached a hand up to touch his face.

“I’ve missed you too . . . Freya, how are you here? Are you alive?” He reached out and touched her face.

“No, I’m not alive. Not exactly. I have been made Lady of the Lake, guardian of the gate of Avalon. I’m bound to the lake and cannot leave it. No matter how much I wish I could. I’ve kept the Sidhe at bay for you.”

His face fell and he dropped his hand from her face. “Thank you. I . . . so much has happened. I wish . . .”

She stopped his mouth again. “Merlin, I am here to give you a message. You have performed a wondrous deed this night. So wondrous that you’ve shifted destiny onto a new course.”

“I—what?” He sputtered.

Freya giggled, “You’re having trouble forming thoughts tonight, aren’t you?” She cleared her throat and looked serious again. “Destiny has altered slightly. You must still protect the Once and Future King, but now there is one less threat. New possibilities have sprung into being so you will face new choices. Be open to them.”

“New possibilities?” He looked into her eyes and she nodded. “Like what?”

“I’m not permitted to tell you. You will discover them in time.” She looked behind her. “My time with you is ending,” she said sadly, and tried to pull her hand from his.

“No—Freya . . . don’t leave me again.”

“Merlin,” she laid her hand on his cheek, “I must go. It has been a . . . joy to see you again. We _will_ meet again, sooner than you think.”

“Freya—” she cut him off again, this time with a quick kiss to the lips. She stepped back and disentangled her hand.

“Merlin,” she said, and he looked at her, a bit dazed. She kept stepping backwards. “Remember, I will always love you, but you must continue moving on. Open your heart to love. Sleep now. Goodbye.” With that, she sank into the lake.

“Freya! No—” he fell to his knees, but amazingly didn’t feel like crying. He still felt her loss, but it was muted. _Open your heart? What?_ Immediately his mind jumped to Morgana, and he turned to look at her. _Wait. No way. She may not be evil anymore, but there still has to be distance between us. That’s just the way it is_. At that thought, he yawned hugely and made his way back to his bedroll. No sooner had he slipped under his covers, than he was out.

xxxXxxx

All four friends slept a bit longer than usual the next morning.  Merlin sat up first, poked at the coals and added a bit of kindling. Soon Gwen joined him and together they readied breakfast. Arthur then Morgana woke and they ate in contented silence.

Morgana couldn't stop smiling. She felt light and airy, like she was walking on air. Everything she looked at seemed brighter, richer.

Soon they began packing for the ride home. Merlin again offered to help Morgana so he could talk to her. “I thought I could teach you mind speech on the way home,” he whispered.

“Mind speech?”

“Speaking mind to mind. I know you're strong enough to succeed at it.”

“All . . . right?”

“The hardest part is not reacting to what's said in your head. _Let's practice right now_.” He spoke the last four words into her mind.

Morgana couldn't prevent herself from startling. She jumped a bit; Gwen noticed. “My Lady, are you all right?”

She thought quickly. “Um, yes Gwen. It was merely a bee buzzing close to my ear. It startled me a bit.” She turned back to Merlin and smirked at him. “Thank you Merlin.”

“Of course, Milady.” He nodded and walked off to pack his things. “ _We'll start a bit after we leave. It's not hard to learn_.”

The group left immediately after packing was completed. After half an hour or so on the trail, Merlin began explaining the basics of mind speech. “ _It's a lot like 'feeling' the magic in a person or thing. You have to focus on a specific person, unless you want to broadcast to everyone_.” He snickered out loud at the thought.

Arthur twisted around in his saddle. “What's so funny, _Mer_ lin?” he asked. _Oops_.

“Just contemplating how tired your horse will be after carrying your weight all day.”

“ _I_ am not _fat_!”

“Whatever you say, Sire.” To Morgana he said, “ _Someone's touchy today_.” She had to stifle her own giggle. “ _All right, where were we? Ah yes, focus on one person, and just push your words to their mind using magic. Try it with me_.”

Morgana took a deep breath to help her focus. She felt for her magic the pushed it outward at Merlin while thinking, “ _Merlin, can you hear me_?” She watched him frown. _What did that mean_?

“ _Morgana, I could barely hear you. Try a 'louder' mental voice and a bit more magic_.”

She refocused. “ _Can you hear me now, Merlin_?” She “yelled.”

Before he could stop them, his hands reflexively shot up to cover his ears. Thankfully Gwen and Arthur were riding side-by-side ahead of him and didn't see him do that. “ _That was great Morgana, just not quite that ‘loud,’ okay?_ ”

“ _Okay. Sorry_ ,” she replied, a bit quieter. “ _Is this better_?”

“ _Perfect. You'll get better as we practice_.”

They conversed in this manner for some time, talking out loud when one of the others addressed them. Morgana found it easier and easier as the hours passed. Everyone naturally stopped talking once Camelot came into view. Smiling a bit brighter, they rode into the courtyard. _Home_.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin ran to tell Gaius what had happened at the lake. He rejoiced and congratulated Merlin. Later, Morgana came down and Gaius hugged her warmly, saying, “Welcome back to us.”

Since she was back on their side, Morgana and Merlin found they had quite a few things to talk over. One of them was what to do concerning Morgause. Morgana didn't hate her; they _were_ still sisters. But she was very angry about the controlling spell. They finally decided that Morgana should go to her when she was contacted. Then she could learn Morgause's plans and work with Merlin to counteract them.

That brought up another question. What, if anything, should they tell Arthur? They could tell him everything—their magic, Morgana's betrayal and return, spying on Morgause . . . or just parts of the truth. Or maybe nothing. The main problem was they didn't know how he would react to any of those revelations. They could end up on a pyre or even trying to stop Arthur from taking an army to find Morgause.

In the end, they decided to forego telling Arthur anything. There were just too many variables to consider, especially since their lives could be on the line. That didn't give them any more peace of mind though. But if Camelot became threatened, they'd probably have to tell him _something_.

Days passed, and the more time that went by, the more comfortable Morgana became with her “new” self. She still hated Uther, but most days she found excuses to avoid him. Since she had the more flexible schedule, Merlin would contact her through mind speech when he had a decent amount of time free. They'd find an empty chamber or sneak outside separately and learn magic. This was how Morgana learned spells to lock, soundproof and create illusions. They came in handy more than a few times.

Then Princess Elena visited Camelot.

xxxXxxx

Elena seemed awkward and clumsy. Frighteningly so. When she walked into the throne room, she tripped over _nothing_ and fell flat on her face. Merlin found it a struggle to not laugh at the poor girl. Later on, when he delivered Morgana's potion, Gwen told them what the King had told Arthur—he had to marry her.

“Poor Arthur!” Morgana exclaimed.

 _And poor Gwen_ , Merlin thought. He glanced at her. She definitely looked depressed, going about her evening chores a little slower than normal. _I hope there's a way out of this for him_.

In the morning, Arthur had arranged a picnic for himself and Elena. He and Merlin looked on in astonishment as she expertly mounted her horse and nudged it into a run. When they returned though, she gave Arthur the most awkward hug he'd ever had and tripped while walking up the steps. Merlin didn't know whom to feel sorrier for.

Morgana got her first good look at Elena at the banquet that night. The princess not only dropped food down her dress, but then reached in to pick it out and eat it. Then she appeared to get rather tipsy on a very small amount of wine. This didn't bode well for Arthur. “ _The poor girl can hardly hold herself together!_ ” she thought at Merlin.

“ _If Arthur marries her, he'll be in for a lifetime of this. Even_ I _feel sorry for him_ ,” Merlin replied.

Merlin received an even bigger shock the next morning. He'd been gathering herbs and watched Grunhilda, Elena's servant, pass by a short distance away. So he decided to follow her. He hid behind a tree while she knelt by the edge of a pond. Suddenly he heard a snapping sound and a plant in the pond moved. He used magic to slow time while a long purple tongue shot from her mouth to catch a bug on that same plant. He dropped the herbs in shock and ran straight back to Gaius.

Gaius investigated in Elena's room and discovered pixie dust. And pixies work for the Sidhe. Gaius theorized that Elena was a changeling, meaning one of the fae lived inside her. If she married Arthur, the Sidhe would have a queen on the throne of Camelot. _Bad news_.

That night, the royals dined together, with Gwen attending. Arthur brought up Elena, telling Uther he didn't want to marry her. Uther shot him down though. Arthur and Gwen glanced at each other, and Morgana glanced at them. Gwen looked upset. _Could she and Arthur_ . . .?

Later, Morgana went to Gaius's chambers “for her potion.” Both Merlin and Gaius were there. They had multiple books stacked around them. “I have some interesting news,” she said.

“So do we,” replied Merlin.

“I think Gwen and Arthur are in love.”

“Oh, that,” laughed Merlin.

“You knew and didn’t tell me?”

“Well, you were, um, evil before. And it just hasn't come up since your healing.”

“Oh. Well. Okay. What's your news?”

“We think Elena is a changeling.” At Morgana's puzzled expression he explained further. “She has a fairy living inside her. I just came back from spying on her chambers and it's definitely there.”

“A fairy? How delightful!”

“Um, no. We're dealing with the Sidhe. They are mean, nasty and only care about themselves. They'd love to take over Camelot. If we do nothing, they'll get their wish”

“Oh, so how we do that? Not by killing Elena I hope.”

“No, we think we can get the fairy out of her without hurting her.”

“Great! What do we need to do?”

“I've think there's a potion that will do the trick,” Gaius said. Morgana then noticed the books scattered on the table.

“We'll come up with a plan, Morgana, and I'll let you know when it's finalized. This is gonna be crazy,” Merlin said.

“I can tell. Well, just tell me what I can do to help. Goodnight gentlemen.”

“Goodnight,” Gaius and Merlin said together.

xxxXxxx

In the morning after breakfast, Morgana watched people in the courtyard while Gwen made her bed. She decided to see if her theory about Gwen and Arthur was right. “I wouldn't want to be in Arthur's shoes,” she said.

“How’s that?” Gwen replied.

“Compelled to marry someone he didn’t choose.”

“He won’t marry her if he feels like that.”

“It seems hard to believe, but he might not have a choice. Even if it’s not what he wants. Even if he loves someone else?” She looked pointedly at Gwen. “Even if she returns his feelings? Gwen, I've known you for too long, I can see it in your eyes. You like him, don't you?”

“No. Don't be absurd.”

“And he likes you.”

“Nothing can ever come of it.”

“I'd like to believe it was possible. Perhaps once he's king . . .?” Gwen didn't look too hopeful. This whole situation had to be hurting her a lot. What else could she do to help Gwen?

xxxXxxx

While Morgana was pondering, Merlin and Gaius were _still_ searching through books. “I feel like my brain is going to explode and my eyes burst out of their sockets,” Merlin complained.

Of course it was right then that Gaius smacked his hand down on the book he'd been reading. He had found the potion. It was well nigh impossible to interpret and Merlin needed to leave to help Arthur. The formal engagement announcement was happening today.

When Merlin returned, he found Gaius knee deep in brewing the potion. Unfortunately he needed one last ingredient that was not only rarer than a four-leaf clover, but only grew in the middle of bogs. He was going to get dirty.

By the time he got back, the engagement ceremony was over. But at least he had gotten the needed flower and Gaius went to work finishing the potion. It would definitely be ready before the wedding.

Unfortunately the potion didn't make it through the night. Merlin was attacked while sleeping by a Sidhe. He managed to kill it with his staff, but the potion bottle was broken in the process. Gaius sighed and started working on a second batch of potion.

Luckily this potion was finished in time. Merlin and Gaius decided to lure Grunhilda to the vaults and lock her in to prevent her interference. On the way to the vaults, Merlin communicated to Morgana through mind speech, asking her to meet them outside Elena's chambers.

Their plan went off without a hitch and the pair was on their way to Elena's chambers when they heard an angry Grunhilda yell behind them. _Change of plans!_ Merlin thought. They rounded the corner and saw Morgana standing there. “ _Help me fight her off Morgana_ ,” he thought to her. To Gaius he said, “We'll see how long we can hold her off, you better be quick.”

Gaius dashed into the room. Morgana was about to ask, “her who?” when Grunhilda came tearing around the corner. Merlin held up the staff at her and a blue beam of light shot out and knocked Grunhilda back. Morgana stood there gaping a moment before yelling, “ _Astrice!_ ”

Merlin continued shooting Grunhilda with the staff and Morgana with offensive spells until the pixie exploded into a pile of golden dust. They looked at each other, then burst into Elena’s chambers together. Elena was sitting on the end of her bed, holding the potion. Gaius was standing next to her, looking frantic. Merlin gave Gaius a look that said “hurry up already!”

“I’m trying!” Gaius whispered back to him.

While Morgana watched, Merlin ran over to Elena and said, “Elena, this will make you feel so much better!” He took the bottle, pinched Elena's nose, and poured the potion into her mouth. Elena fell back and started writhing while the Sidhe was forced out. Merlin killed it with the staff’s energy.

Elena woke and sat up primly. Gaius took control of the situation. “Don’t worry, my dear. You probably just fainted. Too much excitement!”

“Fainted? I feel . . . wonderful. I haven't felt this pleasant in years! Where’s Grunhilda?” Elena asked.

Merlin and Gaius looked at each other, then said together, “We'll look into it.”

“Who will help me finish getting ready for the wedding?” inquired Elena.

Gaius and Merlin looked pointedly at Morgana. She rolled her eyes at them before stepping forward to say, “I will, Your Highness. Now what should I help you with first?”

“I’ve got to go help Arthur,” Merlin said, then handed Gaius his staff. “Put this away for me?” Gaius rolled his eyes but nodded. Before he ran out the door, Merlin yelled, “See you at the wedding!”

xxxXxxx

Morgana watched Lord Godwyn and Elena walk down the aisle in the throne room. Elena seemed more poised, confident and serene. She hadn’t tripped or said anything silly since the Sidhe left her. _She wouldn’t make such a bad wife now_ , Morgana thought. But Gwen and Arthur were going to suffer unless Arthur found the courage to stand up to Uther.

Geoffrey of Monmouth began the handfasting ceremony, and the couple began exchanging vows. After he said, “Do any say nay?” Arthur finally spoke up. Arthur complimented her, but said he didn’t love her. She agreed with him, and the wedding was cancelled. Morgana, Merlin and Gwen rejoiced. Uther was very upset, but Lord Godwyn managed to soothe him. He and Elena departed in peace.

Then Gwen was kidnapped.

xxxXxxx

Morgana became worried when Gwen didn’t show up the next morning. She managed to dress herself and get down to breakfast with Arthur and the King. Uther greeted her, but when he saw she looked troubled, he asked, “Anything the matter?”

“It's Gwen. She didn't come to work this morning,” she replied.

Arthur frowned and said, “That isn’t like her.”

“True; it's odd. I hope nothing's wrong,” she said.

“You shouldn't worry, Morgana. Besides, if your maid can’t be depended upon anymore, we can simply replace her,” Uther stated. Morgana and Arthur barely managed to hold their glares in check.

“ _Of course he would think that_ ,” Morgana thought at Merlin.

“ _Servants are just property to him_ ,” Merlin replied.

Arthur managed a hopeful, “I'm sure she'll show up in time.”

“I'm sure,” Morgana replied to him. To Merlin she thought,“ _I’m really worried. Should we go to her house?_ ”

“ _I think Arthur will ask me to do that as soon as we leave here. He’s probably as worried as you are_.”

Merlin was right. He went to Gwen’s house and found nothing out of order except a sickly-smelling cloth. A scent like that would cause a person to pass out. It looked like Gwen had been taken by someone. When he took it to Arthur, the prat nearly passed out from sniffing it. But he managed to convince Arthur that Gwen had been taken. And Arthur took the matter to his father.

“Sire, I have cause to believe that Guinevere’s been abducted.”

“Abducted?” Morgana asked.

“ _I found a cloth laced with enough drugs to knock someone out_ ,” Merlin thought to her.

“ _Poor Gwen_ ,” Morgana replied.

Arthur went on to explain that he wanted to organize a search party to find her, citing that as maid to the King’s ward, she was important. Morgana hid a smirk—that wasn’t his real reason, but if it worked, she didn’t mind. Uther thought it wasting resources to search for a servant, and initially refused. But Arthur persisted, and the King finally agreed to spare a squad of guards, though they had only till nightfall to search the town and countryside.

The guards searched as long as they were permitted, but Gwen wasn’t found. That didn’t matter much, because Gwen was in Morgana’s chambers when she woke. She claimed to have been ill, but she looked haunted.

Morgana contacted Merlin. “ _Gwen’s back! She says she was ill, but I don’t believe her_.”

“ _I’ll see if I can bump into her this morning_ ,” he replied. He didn’t mean that literally, but that’s what happened. This caused Gwen to drop Morgana’s laundry, which he helped her pick up since he was the cause. “Gwen! I've been searching all over town for you. Arthur's been so anxious.”

“That's very kind of him. I simply had a cold, that's all.”

“I stopped by your home, Gwen, you weren't there.”

“Oh, no, er . . . I, er . . . was really . . .”

Merlin looked down at that moment and saw Gwen's wrists—they were bruised. “Who gave you that?”

“No one, it was an accident.”

“Gwen. Look at me.”

“It's okay. I'm okay,” she said, but then she broke into tears.

He was determined to get the truth out of her. “ _Morgana, we’re coming to your chambers. Gwen has a story for us_.” He stood up and offered his hands to help her up. Then he grabbed the basket of laundry, carrying it with one hand, and using the other to wrap around her shoulders as they walked back to Morgana’s chambers.

Morgana pulled out a chair at the table for Gwen to sit. “Now, please tell us what happened. We want to help.”

“These men . . . put me to sleep and when I woke, I was in this place. A castle. This man taunted me then he brought in my brother, Elyan.”

“Elyan? Didn’t he run away a few years ago?” Morgana asked.

“Yes. We talked for a bit and he told me the man who talked to me was Cenred.”

“ _King_ Cenred?” Morgana had heard of him, of course.

“He’s a king? It figures. He had Elyan taken away again and threatened to hurt him if I didn’t bring Arthur to them within a week. What I don't know is how they found out.”

Morgana looked at Merlin and thought, “ _Probably Morgause scryed them together. She has a crystal._ ”

“About?” Merlin asked Gwen. She gave him “you know this” look. “Oh. Arthur's affection for you. It's no secret that Arthur would give his life for any of his subjects. Cenred could've taken anyone.” Gwen looked at him, then at Morgana. “Oh, Morgana knows. She figured it out.”

“Do you really believe that Cenred would just take anyone?” Gwen replied.

“All I know is you're back home safe with us. You don't have to cope with this alone.”

“Yes I do, Merlin. This is my mess. I can't involve Arthur. I won't.”

“Arthur's _been_ involved—he cares about you,” Morgana said.

“Not if I don't say anything to him.”

“Gwen. If Arthur had a problem, wouldn't you want him to reach out to you?” Merlin asked gently.

“You know I would.”

“All right. It’s decided—we’re going to Arthur with this. Now.” Morgana led the group to Arthur’s chambers and knocked on his door.

He opened it, looking a bit surprised to see them all together. “Arthur, we have a problem,” Morgana said. Arthur gestured for them to sit at his table, and Gwen told her story.

“It’s the Castle of Fyrien, I'm certain of it. Fyrien was a merchant. He built a castle on the Seas of Meredor as a station for trade routes to the east, but when war with Caerleon began, the trade ran out. The castle was deserted. It's the ideal hideout for Cenred. It was built to withstand anything.”

“Sounds like a hard place to get into,” Merlin said.

“It is. It’ll be highly defended.”

Gwen looked repentant. “I'm sorry; I shouldn't have come to you.”

“You did the right thing. Your brother will not be harmed, I promise.”

“ _What he really means is ‘I love you and I would do anything for you_ ,’” Morgana thought at Merlin. They both smirked.

“How can you be so certain?” Gwen asked.

“Because we're going to save him. The four of us.”

Merlin did a double-take. “What do you mean ‘we’?”

“Cenred wants to kill you. That's why he's doing this,” Gwen said.

“I know. Cenred's coveted Camelot's throne for as long as I can recall.”

“Then we'll be heading into a trap,” Merlin added.

“Not necessarily,” Arthur said. “Thanks to Gwen, forewarned is forearmed.”


	6. Chapter 6

They decided to spin a believable story to Uther so he’d permit them to leave. Arthur found Uther in the council chamber and got to work. He explained how he’d lost a wager to Morgana and owed her two silk dresses. And of course they couldn’t be found in Camelot, so he’d need to take a trip. All Uther did was laugh, tell him not to make bets with Morgana and to not keep her waiting. _That was_ _easy_.

As soon as all four friends had their things together, they met in the square. Their horses were ready and waiting, so they packed them up and left. Gwen remembered the trail she’d come back on, and even if she hadn’t, Arthur had a map. When they got into the darkling woods, he decided to start conversation.

“I used to be scared of these woods.”

Gwen scoffed. “That’s hard to believe.”

“My father brought me here when I was a boy, and it seemed every falling leaf was a bandit, every gust of wind was a ghost. You just get used to it eventually,” he replied.

“I wouldn’t ever get used to it.”

He turned to Gwen. “You don't need to. You have me.” They exchanged a smile.

Behind them, Merlin and Morgana smiled. Morgana mouthed “how sweet” and batted her eyelashes. Arthur suddenly remembered that they weren’t alone. He looked back and caught the others grinning. Looking back at Gwen, he quickly backpedaled a bit, “What I meant was, in case of an attack we'll look out for each other. Morgana, I think I can count on your protection?”

“Of course,” she replied.

“And Gwen, you'll watch over Merlin, won't you?” Gwen just giggled, but he looked back again to see Merlin affect an insulted expression.

“You don’t have to hide, you know,” Morgana said.

“What?” replied Arthur.

“You two. You don’t have to hide your feelings from us.”

“We don’t have . . .” Gwen started.

“Keep denying it if it makes you feel better.” Morgana smirked.

After a few more hours, they decided to stop and camp for the night. Morgana announced she was going to collect firewood. She tried to get Merlin’s attention, but finally had to speak up. “Merlin, would you come with me?”

He glanced at her, “No, I think you’ll be fine on your own.”

She went up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. “I’d like some company though.” She mouthed “you” and indicated out into the forest with her head.

“Oh yes, you’ll probably need some help carrying all that wood. Let’s go.” Once they were out into the woods a bit, he asked, “What was that all about?”

“I thought they could use some alone time. And we can do some magic out here.” She giggled at that.

He blushed a little. “Practice magic, okay. Anything in particular you want to learn?”

“Summoning objects? That could be useful right now—we wouldn’t have to bend over to gather wood.” She laughed a little at this and he joined in.

“All right. There are lots of ways to do this. I can think of two at the moment, and they’re not specific so you could use them for whatever, but you have to focus on the _what_ a little harder.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Fun. Riiiight. So. To summon something quickly, I’ve used ‘ _Onbregdan._ ’ Try it with that branch there, but be ready to catch it.”

Morgana took a deep breath, closed her eyes a moment, then reopened them. She focused on the branch he’d indicated, held out her hand and said, “ _Onbregdan_.” The branch stayed put. So she said, a little stronger, “ _Onbregdan_.” The branch flew into her outstretched hand. “I did it!”

Merlin smiled. “Good, only two tries. Now try the other spell, ‘ _Inbringe, cume mec_.’”

She focused on a branch near his feet, “ _Inbringe, cume mec_.” Not surprisingly, it didn’t move. She put a little more force into her second attempt, “ _Inbringe, cume mec_.” It wobbled a little. She stamped her foot and said, “No stupid stick is going to beat me!” Closing her eyes again, she took a couple more deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, they glowed gold. She spoke clearly and strongly, “ _Inbringe, cume mec_.” But instead of the branch flying to her, _Merlin_ was dragged toward her.

He knocked her down and fell on top of her with an “Ooof!” They looked at each other a moment before blushing furiously. He jumped off of her with a muttered, “Sorry.”

She sat up and looked up at him, “What do _you_ have to be sorry for? _I’m_ the one that misdirected the spell.”

He stuck out a hand to pull her up. She brushed herself off. “Well, I could have anticipated it and stopped you.”

Morgana grabbed his arm. “No, you’re not taking the blame for that. I guess it needs a bit more work, eh?” She chuckled weakly.

“Yep, no more summoning for you until I can wrap myself in pillows.” He flashed her his brightest grin and they started picking up wood the old-fashioned way. On their way back to camp they made as much noise as possible, to warn the lovebirds of their imminent arrival. Sure enough, Arthur and Gwen quickly moved away from each other on the log they used for a bench. Morgana and Merlin smirked at each other before they joined them at the small fire.

During dinner, Arthur told them a bit more about the castle they’d be “assaulting.” He explained the hidden tunnels beneath the castle and how Uther had used them to ambush Caerleon. “With any luck, we can sneak in, free Gwen’s brother, and sneak out without anyone noticing.” They all agreed it was an excellent plan and then went to bed so they could start early in the morning.

An hour or so later, Morgana heard “ _Sister_ ” being whispered on the breeze. _Morgause_. This was the first time she’d been contacted by her sister since she’d been freed from her spell. She wasn’t looking forward to this, but she knew she could rely on the acting skills she’d perfected since returning to Camelot. She got out of her bedroll and followed the voice back to its source.

“Sister,” Morgause said, and stepped forward to embrace Morgana. “I see our plan to capture Arthur is on track.”

“Yes. He knows of some secret entrance and plans to catch you unawares.”

“Then your work isn’t done yet, Sister. When you get to the entrance, you must guide us to it.” Morgause took a ring out of her cloak and said a spell over it. “When you’re sure you’re alone, toss it upon the ground. Its magic will lead us to you.”

“I will not fail, sister,” Morgana replied. _I will not fail to help Arthur_. She turned around and went back to her bedroll.

xxxXxxx

They rose early in the morning and broke camp quickly. While Arthur helped Gwen with cleaning up breakfast, Morgana motioned Merlin over to the horses. They made a show of packing, and she said, “Morgause visited last night. She’s behind this whole charade.”

“Oh great. What did she want with you?”

“She wanted to know how we were getting in. Don’t worry—I didn’t tell her. She gave me this enchanted ring. I’m supposed to toss it on the ground where we enter. It’s meant to lead them to us somehow.”

“So . . . what?”

“I’ll just pick a random place far from where we actually enter. That way a part of their forces will be away when we go in. It’ll be even easier to get in and out.”

“Brilliant.” He looked past her to see the others approaching. “Uh oh, we’d better pack for real.”

They finished packing and got on the trail. At about midday they spotted the castle and circled around it to the shoreline. It wasn’t a nice, soft sandy beach, but littered with boulders of various sizes. When they reached a cave-like opening, Morgana put the enchanted ring down. They continued hiking downward until Arthur found the real opening and they crept in.

The tunnel was littered with skeletons and cobwebs, but they managed to get around most of those. Fortunately the opening into the castle proper wasn’t guarded and led into the dungeons. They split into pairs to look for Elyan’s cell. Arthur and Gwen rounded a corridor and walked right into a group of guards, who disarmed them without much of a fight. The other two heard the scuffle and came running but were spotted and subdued before they could dodge out of sight. All four were dragged to the throne room. A tall man clad in leather approached them.

“Well, well, Arthur Pendragon. How nice of you to call on me. And look, you came with some friends. Oh, the Lady Morgana, no less.”

He walked over to her and she spat, “Don't even breathe on me, you pig.”

“Well, the more the merrier, I say,” Cenred shot back.

“I'm the one you want, Cenred. Release them,” Arthur tried to distract him.

“It’s true, that would only be fair. But fair's for fools. Take them away!” At their king’s command, the guards approached to manhandle them back to the dungeon.

“You can’t harm them! They're innocent!”Arthur yelled.

“Innocent? No supporter of Camelot is innocent!” They heard Cenred say as they left the room.

Gwen was led to a cell and thrown inside. Elyan was there, and he reprimanded her for coming back for him. Through their conversation, he managed to figure out who came with her and how she and Arthur felt about each other. At the same time, Merlin and Arthur were tossed in a cell together. Arthur managed to come up with his usual half-baked escape plan, which could actually work.

Morgana was left in the throne room with the two people she really didn’t want to be with. She learned that yes, Morgause and Cenred were planning to torture Arthur for information. Morgana tried to tell them that wouldn’t work because he was too stubborn. The evil pair was determined to try anyway. _We’ll be gone before you can try_ , Morgana thought.

Back in the dungeon, Arthur’s plan had solidified. He climbed to a niche in the ceiling while Merlin yelled for a guard. When the guard opened the door, Arthur fell on him. They knocked him out and took his keys. The two men ran down the corridor, peeking through door windows until they found Elyan and Gwen. “Time to go!” Arthur yelled, and they ran until the reached the corridor to the throne room. To Merlin he said, “Get Gwen and Elyan out of here. Guard them with your life.” To Gwen he said, “When you find the horses, head directly to Camelot. Don’t wait for me. Promise.”

“But I . . .”

“Promise.”

“I promise.”

“What about you?” Merlin asked.

“I'm going after Morgana. I won’t leave without her.” He ran toward the throne room.

“ _Morgana, are you in the throne room still?_ ” Merlin thought to her.

“ _Yes. Morgause and Cenred wanted to make nice_.”

“ _Brace yourself, Arthur’s coming. I’ll come after him_ ,” he replied.

To Elyan he said, “Elyan! Take care of Gwen. I'm going after him.” Gwen gave him a pleading look while Elyan nodded and pulled his sister toward the exit.

As he ran after Arthur, the warning bells started ringing. _Oh yay, they know we’re loose_. He got to the doorway to the throne room and peeked carefully into the room. Arthur was nearest him. On the opposite side of the room from him stood Morgause and Cenred, who was holding Morgana with one hand and a sword to her throat with the other. “ _Are you all right?_ ” he asked her.

“ _I’m fine, it’s an act. Watch out for Morgause_ . . .” As she said this, Morgause conjured a column of fire and pushed it toward Arthur.

Merlin thought quickly and whispered, “ _Miere torr sweoloþhat!_ ” Immediately the column of fire exploded and blew everyone backwards. The ceiling collapsed on Morgause and Cenred, knocking them unconscious. Arthur and Merlin ran toward Morgana. Arthur did a double-take when he saw him, but helped Morgana up. All three ran for the exit they’d entered the castle through.

Eventually they reached the horses where Gwen and Elyan were waiting.  Arthur was going to ask why they were still there, but a couple of Cenred’s men chose that moment to attack. Arthur finished his attacker first, then watched Elyan handily defeat his. _Gwen’s brother is good in a fight_.

They rode for home as quickly as they could. Everyone was tired from all the effort they’d expended, and sighed simultaneously when they saw Camelot’s towers in the distance. Then they simultaneously laughed as they realized what they’d done. They were still smiling when they rode through the gates to home.

xxxXxxx

Within a few days after the rescue, the King determined it was time for Arthur to face “one of the most important days in a prince's life”—meditation to choose a quest. It was another test to prove his worth to the people he’d one day rule. Merlin helped him prepare, then watched as he walked alone into the throne room and knelt on the floor. He was closing the doors behind Arthur when Gwen came up behind him.

“What's he really doing?”

“Thinking.”

“About?” Merlin gave her a sly look.

“You.” Gwen hit him for that bit of cheekiness.

“Shhh.” He prompted, then finished closing the doors. “He must decide upon a quest.”

“And kneeling all night is going to help?”

“Yes. He has to rise above his body so the quest is revealed to him in a vision.”

“And you're going to stand here and look after him?”

“Gwen, this is one of the most significant events of a prince's life,” he said with mock seriousness.

“Ohh,” she replied with the same degree of seriousness.

xxxXXxx

When Arthur emerged from his trance-like state, he revealed his task—to visit the lands of the legendary Fisher King and retrieve his golden trident. He was to accomplish this alone and unaided, which sounded incredibly dangerous to Merlin. Especially after he’d talked with Gaius about the Fisher King. He _had_ to talk Arthur into letting him come.

A later conversation with Arthur proved fruitless. Of course, it could have had something to do with the hiccups too. Trying to convince someone to choose something easier falls flat when the person you’re trying to convince goes out of his way to choose the hard way . . . every time. Emphasizing _perilous_ didn’t help either. Arthur just threw the “alone and unaided” line in his face again. Maybe Morgana could come up with something.

Sometime later in the day, Morgana strolled through the market with Arthur. He was acquiring supplies and she was just shopping. At one point, an old woman stopped them.

“My Lord, My Lady, please, just spare me a few minutes of your time.”

“Of course, how can we help you?” Arthur replied.

“Prince Arthur, it would give me the greatest pleasure if you would accept this as a token of good fortune for your quest.” From her cloak she pulled out a bracelet with a shiny yellow jewel embedded in it. She held it out to the prince. Morgana's eyes were drawn to it—it gave off a magical aura, like _her_ bracelet. _Hmmm_.

He took it from her hand. “Ah, thank you.”

“Please believe me when I say all of Camelot wishes for your success,” she added.

“Of course. Good day madam.”

The woman bowed her head. When she brought it back up, she looked right at Morgana and smiled. Morgana shivered—something was familiar about this woman, but she couldn't pinpoint _what_. Before she thought to look any deeper, the woman had turned and melted into the crowd. _Very odd_. Then Arthur pulled on her arm and they resumed their shopping.

Late that night, Merlin knocked on Morgana's door. He was delivering her draught and staying for a magic lesson. When she opened the door she had a frown on her face and turned around to walk back into her room. “Well hi to you too,” he joked.

“Oh sorry. I'm thinking about something weird I saw earlier at the market.”

“Weird in Camelot is normal.” He smirked and came further into the room, setting the potion down on her vanity.

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Arthur and I were down there earlier. This old woman came up to us and offered him a bracelet as a token of good fortune. The woman seemed familiar somehow, especially when she looked right at me.”

“Sounds creepy.”

“Yeah, but there's more. I felt magic coming from the bracelet. It definitely has power.”

Now Merlin frowned. “It could be a harmless charm or it could be something else. Something sinister.”

“Let's hope for the former. I doubt we'll get a chance to examine it closer before he leaves though.”

“Probably not. Maybe if we figured out whom the old woman was we could figure out her intent.”

“How do we do that?”

“I have an idea. Guess it's lesson time! Okay, sit down and relax.” She did so. “Close your eyes and remember the moment she looked at you. Come to think of it, this may even be easy for you because you're a seer.”

“Merlin, focus,” Morgana prompted. She opened an eye to glare.

“Ah. Okay. So, relax and think about that moment.” He pulled another chair close to her and sat in it. “Got it?” She nodded. “Okay, now dive in there with magic and use that to sense what's familiar.”

He watched her scrunch up her nose as she concentrated. _That's so cute. And those pouty lips, a perfect little bow . . . What am I thinking? Just stop right there. It's not gonna happen. Ever_. He looked down at the floor for a minute but his eyes were inevitably drawn back to her face. It was smoothed over. _Really smooth. What would it feel like under my fingers? Satin?_ He subconsciously leaned toward her, hand outstretched. Just then Morgana gasped and opened her eyes. _Uh oh_.

“Merlin, what are you doing?” She asked dryly.

“Ah, you have a bit of something on your nose,” he lied. Then he sat back nonchalantly. Like he hadn't tried to _touch her face_. “So, what did you see? You seemed pretty startled.”

“Oh. Morgause. It was Morgause in the market. So we can safely say she really _doesn't_ wish him good fortune.”

“Just great. I don't suppose you got a good look at the bracelet?”

“Not really. It had a yellow stone though.”

“Well that's something at least. You should get some rest. I can go back and start looking . . .”

“I wouldn't bother. You don't know what it looks like. We can search in the morning after Arthur leaves and catch up with him if it's really bad.”

“All right.” He stood. “Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight Merlin.” After he left, she walked over to her mirror to examine her nose. There was nothing on it. What _was_ he talking about? She shook her head, put out the remaining candles and got into bed. _Crazy_ , she thought before she drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

The members of the royal household spoke little to each other in the morning. Setting off on a quest of this type was serious business. Many gathered on the front steps of the castle to see the prince off. Morgana stood next to the king and watched Arthur and Merlin finish packing up the horse. After they finished, Arthur turned toward those on the steps and bowed his head. They bowed their heads in turn.

He turned and mounted his horse. He and Merlin nodded at each other and Merlin handed him the reins. His gaze was drawn to the bracelet Arthur wore. So that's it. Strong magic coming off that.

Arthur noticed and said to him, “Beautiful, isn't it? It was a gift from an old woman in the market.” With that, he nudged his horse into motion.

When he'd disappeared from view, Merlin thought to Morgana, “ _I got a good look. Definitely dark magic. Come to Gaius's when you can_.” As he turned to walk back to the physician's chambers, he saw her nod.

Once back in Gaius’s chambers, Merlin explained to the old physician what he and Morgana had seen. They started looking through Gaius’s library. When Morgana came in a few minutes later, they were nearly hidden behind stacked volumes. She blew out a sigh and asked, “Any luck?”

“None yet,” Merlin replied.

Morgana grabbed a book and started thumbing through it. They quickly lost track of time until there was a knock at the door. Someone yelled “enter,” and in came Gwen with a tray. “Morgana, it’s lunchtime. You need to eat. The three searchers looked at each other. Morgana began eating while the other two pulled food from a cupboard. Gwen shook her head fondly and left the room.

As they finished, Gaius said, “I don’t know where else to look, Merlin.”

“There must be _something_ ,” he replied.

“We've researched every gem imaginable. Unless . . .” Gaius got up and reached for a previously un-searched book. After paging through it a bit, he said, “Merlin, Morgana.”

The two stood and hurried over to him. “Gaius, that's it!” Morgana exclaimed.

“Then it's not a gem. It's an Eye of the Phoenix.”

“Phoenix?” Merlin asked.

“Also known as the Firebird. Its eye burns with a fire that consumes the life force of anyone it makes contact with.”

“Arthur,” Merlin and Morgana said together.

“The Eye will drain energy from him. If he wears it for too long, Arthur will die.”

“I need to go after him,” Merlin said.

“This isn’t a task to be taken lightly, Merlin. You'll want help” Gaius replied.

“I’ll go,” Morgana volunteered.

“No, My Lady. It’s much too dangerous. They are called the Perilous Lands for good reason.” Gaius said.

“I’m not afraid.”

“Morgana,” Merlin said, and took her hands, “please listen to us. We really have no idea what could be out there. You mean too much to us to risk your life. Besides, Uther would never sanction it and if you disappeared without warning again . . .”

“I didn’t think . . . I just want to help after I have hurt so many . . .”

“Your dedication is one of your most admirable qualities, but your tendency to jump into things is one of your worst,” Merlin said with a smile, and chucked her on the chin. Gaius looked at them shrewdly.

She glared at him for a minute, then smiled. “All right, but you still need help.”

“No worries, I know just the man,” Merlin replied and headed into his room to pack.

When he’d finished, he stepped back into the main chamber. He offered Gaius a hug, and the old man said, “Stay safe, my boy.”

Morgana stood from where she’d been sitting. “Be careful,” she told him, and stepped up to embrace him. “Keep Arthur safe and come back to me,” she whispered, and planted a small kiss on his cheek before letting go and stepping back.

He looked at her, surprised, and was glad his back was to Gaius. “I will,” he told her before walking to the door and opening it. Before he stepped through, he looked back at the two briefly. They smiled and he left, feeling pretty confident he could save Arthur this time too.

xxxXxxx

Once he was out the gate, Merlin headed for Angard, Gwaine’s last known location. No doubt he’d have to search several taverns to find him. That would, unfortunately, take up time. But if the bracelet was sucking Arthur’s life away he’d be slowed down anyway. They shouldn’t have too much trouble finding him.

As he got further down the road, he let his mind wander. What did Morgana mean by “come back to me?” That last word bothered him the most. Was she getting attached to him, not just as a friend? That was . . . oddly comforting. _Odd?_ He’d been infatuated with her when he first came to Camelot, but that was years ago. And it had faded as she’d grown closer to Morgause. And when she came back . . . well, he didn’t hate _her_ , just what she was doing. Somehow he’d known she could be saved.

So how did he know she could be saved?  Was it some kind of magical connection? Some wish to hold onto their friendship?  Or a lingering trace of that infatuation?

xxxXxxx

He only looked in three taverns before he found Gwaine, who was in the middle of being tossed out. They managed to get away from the angry men, after plenty of running. Merlin explained the situation to Gwaine, and since he was always up for a challenge, decided to help.

After a bit of traveling, they came to a bridge. Gwaine told him to stay put while he scouted, but Merlin ignored him and went down to the bridge. He was surprised when a little person appeared out of nowhere and greeted him with, “So, Magic has arrived.”

After getting over his surprise, he listened to the bridge keeper tell him he was essential to Arthur's quest. Or rather, _his_ quest, if the little man was to be believed. Merlin was to restore the Fisher King's lands to prosperity somehow. When Gwaine showed up, the little man greeted him by saying, “At last! Strength has arrived, the trio is set.”

Gwaine and Merlin looked at each other in confusion. _Trio? He must be including Arthur_. That was right before Gwaine drew his sword which the little man promptly turned into a flower bouquet. He was promised it back after he crossed the bridge, so he grumpily did so.

Merlin made to follow him, but the bridge keeper stopped him. “The Fisher King has waited a very long time for this day. Don’t refuse him what he desires.” After Merlin nodded, the man added, “Remember, nothing is as it seems.” Well, since they were headed to a place called the _Perilous Lands,_ which was supposedly poisoned by the _extremely_ old king’s illness, _yeah_ , probably nothing would be as it seems. _Ugh_.

They stopped for the night and were serenaded with cries of what Gwaine called “pheasants,” but were, of course, something more sinister. In the morning as they got closer to the Dark Tower, they saw flying things circling something on the ground. A flash of light glinted off of something Gwaine determined was a sword. _Arthur_.

The two men began moving quicker. They paused to get a better look at the flying creatures now that they were closer. Gwaine spoke up, “Wyverns. Remote cousins of the dragon. They're creatures of magic, so be careful.” _Remote cousins of the dragons huh? Maybe they’ll take commands from a Dragon Lord_. They managed to fend off the wyverns and get into the tower, where they split up to find Arthur.

Luckily Merlin found him first, in a room, passed out and cornered by wyverns. He jumped in front of them and commanded them to leave, using the dragon tongue. They bowed and left then he turned to Arthur and pulled the bracelet off. He stirred and woke, complaining how the quest was now ruined because of Merlin’s interference.

Just when Merlin though Arthur’s attitude couldn’t get any worse, a wyvern appeared behind them. Before he could do anything, the wyvern collapsed to the floor and Gwaine appeared. Arthur lost it and left the room. Merlin and Gwaine followed him and they commenced searching the rest of the tower for the trident.

Merlin spotted a throne room, but when he went inside he was trapped and separated from the other two. Sitting on the throne was the Fisher King himself, very much alive. He’d been waiting for a new age, for _Emrys_ to come put an end to his suffering. He dropped the trident from his hand, and there appeared a vial of water from the Lake of Avalon. After offering it to Merlin, he told him, “When everything seems lost, this will show you the way.” Then he asked for a gift in return. All Merlin had was the bracelet—he remembered the words of the bridge keeper, and placed the bracelet on the King’s wrist. As the Fisher King vanished, the door opened and Arthur and Gwaine entered. Arthur claimed the trident and they gladly left the Dark Tower for home.

Gwaine stopped at the border since he was still very much banished. He headed south, but there was no doubt they’d see him again. Arthur and Merlin headed home, and Arthur warned Merlin to say nothing of his involvement in the quest. Merlin helped Arthur present the trident at court.

“And that’s what really happened. Not that watery version Arthur offered,” Merlin explained to his audience, Morgana and Gaius. It was the evening after his and Arthur’s return.

“Why did you refer to yourself in the third person?” Morgana asked, after giggling a bit.

“It was just easier that way,” he offered. She just rolled her eyes.

Gaius held up the water vial. “It's from the Lake of Avalon?”

“That's what he told me.”

“Interesting,” Gaius replied.

“Very,” Morgana interjected.

“You think?” Merlin replied, a little indignant.

“Well, it must have some significance,” said Gaius.

“Maybe . . . do you believe his warnings?” Merlin asked.

“Did he say anything else besides what you told us?” Morgana inquired.

Merlin thought back, then repeated, “’ _I've kept this water safe these years, waiting for the right person to retrieve it. And that is you. You are the chosen one. Albion's time of need is at hand. And in that dark hour you must be strong, for only you can save her. Your powers are great, but you will need help. And that is what I'm giving you._ ’”

“’Albion’s time of need is at hand,’ that doesn’t sound encouraging,” Morgana said.

“Neither does ‘in that dark hour,’” Gaius replied. “Merlin, you obviously have to be ready for something.”

“How can I be ready for something when I don’t know _what_ it is or _when_ it will be?” Merlin said, and started pacing.

“Well, we can step up our magic lessons, cover all kinds of spells and perfect them,” Morgana offered.

“And keep our eyes and ears open,” Gaius said. “And stop pacing; you’re making me anxious when I should be ready for bed.

“Speaking of that,” Morgana said, “it’s time I went.” She stood and both men stood with her. “Goodnight.” She embraced Gaius and moved to Merlin and put her arms around him to do the same. He was _so_ warm and she soaked up that warmth. She let go and stepped back when she heard a cough behind her. Merlin smiled down at her, his eyes soft. As she turned to leave, she saw Gaius’s speculative expression and blushed. That made her quicken her steps out the door.

xxxXxxx

Within a few days, something arrived to divert Gaius's attention. Three people in the lower town had been cured from otherwise grave illnesses or injuries. So naturally the King suspected magic. When Gaius and Merlin visited one of the victims, the innkeeper, they found a totem near the door. He'd also been given a remedy that was obviously magical. When Uther questioned Gaius again, he was told unequivocally that magic was _not_ involved.

When Merlin asked Gaius about it, he still denied magic was involved. So when Gaius got up and left in the middle of the night, Merlin followed him. He was led to a house in the lower town, occupied by an older woman that Gaius seemed _very_ friendly with. After Gaius went inside the house, Merlin returned to the castle.

In the morning, Merlin tried casually asking Gaius if he'd gone out. He was told off for following, but learned that the woman was named Alice, and many years ago, she'd been Gaius's fiancée. She'd excelled in all magic, especially healing, and had to leave Camelot when Uther started the Great Purge. But too soon they had to get to their respective tasks, Merlin to training with Arthur and Gaius to his visits.

After the training torture, Merlin was tasked with putting the equipment away. After he deposited it in the armory, he walked down the corridor a bit and ran into Morgana. Not literally, fortunately.

“Merlin, hey, busy?” She asked.

“Nah, I spare take a few minutes, for you.” He winked.

“So what's new?”

“Did you know Gaius was once engaged? About a million years ago.”

“No, really?”

“Indeed.” He switched to mind speech. “ _They learned magic together before the Purge_.”

“How did you find this out?”

“He ran into her in town last night. _Someone's been magically curing people in the town. Uther sent Gaius to investigate and he recognized her handiwork_.”

“Well well, Gaius the ladies' man, who knew?”

“I think he's bringing her over later, so I'll get meet her, I hope.”

“I want to hear all about her. _And maybe learn about her healing magic. M— my sister told me I have an aptitude for it. Which she didn't bother to teach me_.”

“I'll let you know. See you later.”

“Bye Merlin.”


	8. Chapter 8

When Merlin returned to Gaius's chambers that evening, Alice was indeed present. Gaius had invited her to stay for a while, so she took Merlin's room. Merlin got the floor in the main chamber.

After Gaius fell asleep, Merlin was still trying to get comfortable on the floor. He stopped when he thought he heard talking in his room. He wouldn't eavesdrop if he’d heard only one voice, but there were _two_ drifting through the cracks in the door. When he looked through the door, he saw an ugly little _something_ talking with Alice. Whatever it was, it had a magical aura. He had a funny feeling he'd be spending time in the library very soon.

Merlin approached Gaius about Alice as they were walking through town in the morning. He confirmed that she'd practiced dark magic in the past, but scoffed when Merlin described the creature with, “the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion.” But after he said he could prove it, Gaius willingly followed Merlin to his room.

Once they got to his room, Merlin pulled a box out from under the bed. He'd seen the creature go into the box last night. When Merlin hesitated to open it, Gaius did. To his surprise, it was empty. He was at a loss for words and left the room, very puzzled. As he walked toward the library, he sent to Morgana, “ _Can you meet me in the library? Something weird's come up_.”

“ _I'll be free in a few minutes. See you there_ ,” she replied.

Fortunately Merlin knew where the books on animals were kept, ever since that incident with the goblin. _Euck_. Geoffrey had followed Merlin with his eyes, and when Morgana came, he escorted her over to Merlin. He’d looked in a few books already and found a picture of the ugly little creature and what he assumed was a description. In an unknown language, of course.

“Can I help you?” Geoffrey asked.

“No. Yes. I wonder, um, do you know what this creature is?” Merlin replied.

“Ah, that’s the manticore.”

Morgana voiced his next thought, “A manticore?”

“Wicked-looking creature, isn't it?”

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Merlin agreed.

“I think it was first mentioned about a thousand years ago. The Ancients lived in terror of it, shuddered at its very name.”

“I haven’t even heard of it,” Merlin said.

“Nor I,” Morgana agreed.

“Not surprising. Because as far as I know, the manticore is a myth, a figment of the imagination.”

“Are you certain?” Merlin asked.

“Oh, yes. So, um . . . if you wanted to see one, I'm afraid you're out of luck. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to my work. My Lady.” He inclined his head to Morgana.

“How did it go meeting Gaius’s friend? _So why are we looking at manticore pictures?_ ” Morgana asked in his head.

“ _Because I saw and heard one in my room last night._ Gaius asked Alice to stay for a little while, and she’s using my room,” he replied. He looked up and saw that Geoffrey was far enough away for them to speak aloud without being heard. “It’s not just a ‘figment of the imagination.’”

“He seemed so sure.”

“Well, he’s wrong about that. Help me find more about it. Now we know that it’s supposedly only a myth, we can focus our search better.” He described the box that was under the bed and they set to work.

They searched for an hour or so longer. Finally Morgana nudged him and asked, “Is this it?” She pointed to a page in the book she held.

And there it was, Alice’s box, with a description. In _English_. They read it together and Merlin said, “Oh. There's a reason the box was empty. It isn't a container; it's a portal, a gateway for the manticore.” When he saw Morgana’s confused look, he explained, “I saw the manticore get into the box. But when Gaius opened it later, it was empty.”

“Ah. So now what?”

“I’ve got to talk to Gaius and warn him about Alice. He’s not going to like it. Heck, _I_ don’t like it. Who wants to be told the person they love is not who they think they are?”

“No one.” She looked at him like she was going to say something else, but didn’t. _What was that about?_

He shook his head. “Well, goodnight then.”

“Merlin—would you escort me back to my chambers?”

“Umm, sure.” He helped her to stand and followed her out of the library. Once they were in the corridor, she took his arm. He was a bit surprised at the contact, but kept walking.

“What do you think the manticore wants with Alice?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. But it has poison in its tail and she put some into a bottle. So maybe she’s going to poison someone?

“We’d better keep a closer eye on Arthur and Uther. They’re the most popular targets.”

“Yeah.” They fell silent. Her hand was warm on his arm. And since he was so close to her, he could smell the scent of the soap she used on her hair. _Lavender? No, lilac. And vanilla_. It was sweet, yet delicate. And her hair looked so soft and shiny that he had to fight the impulse to touch it. So lost was he in his examination that he didn’t notice they’d reached her door until she cleared her throat. He looked down at her and got trapped in her eyes for a moment. _Emerald, no . . . jade, it’s_ —

“Merlin. We’re here,” she said and shook her head, amused. He had that soft look in his eyes again. _Those blue eyes, like a lake on a clear day_. He almost looked like—oh. His free hand was reaching toward her face and brushed back a strand of her hair that had fallen into her face. _Why is my heart beating faster? And—breathing—would—be—good_.

Just then, her door opened and Gwen stuck her head out. Merlin and Morgana jumped back from each other, both blushing a bit. Gwen thought that more than a little odd, but ignored it for now. “My Lady! Where have you been? You missed dinner.”

Morgana shook her head slowly. “Uh, I was in the library, reading, and I lost track of time. Then I ran into Merlin, and we’ve been talking for a bit. _Please agree with me Merlin!_ ”

Merlin nodded his head. “Yep, talking for a little while. That’s all.” _Ugh, I wanna kick myself for that last_.

“Well thanks Merlin, that was a nice chat. Goodnight. And good luck with that thing with Gaius. _That’s all?! Now I’m gonna get a thousand questions_.”

“Goodnight Gwen, Milady. _Sorry about that. I’m mentally kicking myself. See you tomorrow_.” Merlin bowed his head and left. _What have I done now? And what was that whole staring thing? Ugh. But now I know that her hair is as soft as it looks, and her skin_ . . . Gradually he made it back to his room, to sleep.

Morgana didn’t get off the hook as easily. “Soooo . . .” Gwen started.

“Stop right there. You didn’t see anything. There’s nothing going on between us. I was in the library; he ran into me while I was walking back and offered to escort me here. He saw a bit of something in my hair and got it out for me. End of story.”

“Ha! I wasn’t even going to _ask_ if anything was going on between you two. And with that grand denial, I’m almost certain there is, now.”

 _Oh great_. She tried for a calm, matter-of-fact tone of voice, “We’re just friends, really. I can’t help it if he’s more gentlemanly than half the knights.” _Now to divert her_. “Now what’s this I heard about you and _Arthur_?”

Gwen blushed and started stammering _her_ denials. Morgana managed to keep Gwen diverted until the maid left for the night. Now alone, she had time to think. _What_ is _going on between me and Merlin? What_ was _that out in the hall? We’re just friends, right?_ But no matter how much she thought on it, she couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to that last question.

xxxXxxx

Merlin didn’t have time to talk to Gaius in the morning. He was late to go to Arthur _again_. A little later in the morning, he caught up to Gaius in a corridor and _attempted_ to talk to him about Alice and the manticore. It didn’t end well; Gaius thought Merlin couldn’t handle him being happy, and Merlin couldn’t convince him otherwise. Now Gaius was upset with him, which upset _him_. _Just great_.

He was so distracted by this that even Arthur noticed. When he explained what happened, Arthur offered this sage advice: “Look, I argue with my father regularly. You should do what I do, simply lie low and wait until he comes to his senses. It'll blow over soon.” Merlin appreciated the thought; Arthur was trying to help in his own Arthur-ish way. But he didn’t think it was that simple. The comradely punches to the arm didn’t help either.

Later on, after he had delivered Arthur’s dinner, Merlin sat brooding on the courtyard steps. He knew he should go back to eat dinner and try to mend things with Gaius, but he didn’t know what to say. All thoughts fled from his mind when the warning bell rang. He dashed inside and waylaid another servant to ask what was wrong. “The King was found on the floor in his chambers, very ill,” the servant said. Merlin ran all the way to Uther’s chambers to find Gaius on the floor with the King.

He cautiously approached them, but stopped when Uther gasped and opened his eyes. They were totally black; no whites or his usual blue anywhere. ”What is that?” he gasped.

“Quiet, Merlin,” was all Gaius said. He found the empty bottle of Uther’s pain medicine in the King’s hand and picked it up. He walked out of the room to talk to Arthur. Merlin followed.

While Gaius talked to Arthur, Merlin’s mind was whirring. He knew Alice had been helping Gaius with his potions. Yesterday he’d walked in to see her drop a bottle and refuse his offer to clean it up. She had access to everything Gaius had been making _and_ a bottle of whatever poison she’d gotten from the manticore. _She’d_ probably poisoned the King’s medicine. Arthur certainly thought it was poison, from the sound of it. Gaius tried to put him off, but Arthur walked back to his father.

Merlin approached Gaius. He told him the conclusion he’d just come to, but Gaius still wouldn’t accept it. He didn’t want to believe that Alice could do something so awful. Merlin didn’t want to believe it either; Gaius _did_ deserve to be happy. In his frustration, he finally said, “Oh, come on, Gaius! I know why you're defending her. Truly, I do. But in your heart of hearts, you have to know what I'm saying is true.”

Gaius looked hurt. “All I know is that the King is seriously ill and that your place is at Arthur's side!” He replied and walked off toward his chambers.

Merlin shook his head and walked back into Uther’s chambers. He _should_ be by Arthur’s side, so that’s where he went. He watched Arthur come to the same conclusion he had about the medicine. So he told Arthur what he knew. Arthur jumped up and rounded up two guards then headed for Gaius’s chambers. Merlin followed slowly behind.

Arthur went in with the guards while Merlin hovered in the doorway. He watched as Arthur arrested Alice and had her confined to the dungeon. He and Gaius exchanged a few words that made _Merlin_ feel like the criminal. He couldn’t blame Gaius; he deserved whatever reproach the old physician could hand out.

Merlin walked down to the dungeon and found Arthur questioning Alice. He watched as Alice confirmed every one of their suspicions. At one point she struggled to say, “It compelled me to do it. It, it made me. The creature. The creature.” Arthur dismissed this as a lie, then left when she admitted she didn’t know the cure. So only Merlin saw her eyes turn totally black, just like Uther’s, as she tried to apologize.

He took off for the King’s chambers. Alice had been under the manticore’s control! She hadn’t wanted to kill the King; it had somehow forced her to do it. He found Gaius with Uther and tried to apologize. Gaius wouldn’t hear it. “It's okay, Merlin. I understand. You were just trying to save me from hurt. Thank you. But I don't think Alice wanted this.”

“I know she didn't. The poison came from the manticore, the creature that was in my room,” he replied.

They came to the conclusion that the only way to save the King was to kill the manticore. But it wouldn’t be easy. Its life source was on the other side of the portal; without that it couldn’t exist in this world for long. So they had to get it here and destroy the portal—with magic. They determined Merlin would distract the thing while Gaius destroyed the box—all of this was highly dangerous, of course. After a couple of deep breaths, Merlin pronounced the words to summon the manticore: “ _Cume her, pin scinnlæcan!_ ”

The manticore leaped from the box to Merlin, snarling and spitting. He somehow managed to keep it at bay while Gaius said the spell to destroy the box, “ _Adee þas sawle duru!_ ” Nothing happened and Merlin continued to fend off the creature. Gaius repeated the spell; still nothing happened. Merlin was close to losing the struggle; Gaius tried the spell again, more forcefully. This time the box exploded, but the manticore got free of Merlin and leaped at Gaius, who braced himself. Just before it could sink its teeth into the physician, it dissolved in mid-air. Gaius nearly collapsed in relief.

After they took a few minutes to recover, Merlin and Gaius went to check on the King. He was sitting up in bed and Arthur was next to him, discussing what to do with Alice. Gaius explained how she’d been under the creature’s thrall, in an effort to get her sentence reduced. But Uther was determined that she be executed for practicing magic. Merlin and Gaius bowed and left, Gaius heading toward the dungeon to say goodbye to Alice.

Merlin was having a thought-conversation with Morgana when Gaius returned. He’d explained the situation to her. She’d been stuck in her guarded chambers since the warning bell sounded, and had no idea of what had happened. Gaius began putting Alice’s things in a box when the warning bell went off again. “ _What now?_ ” Morgana wondered.

“ _I may have an idea. Just a minute_ ,” Merlin replied. He then had a short conversation with Gaius that confirmed his idea. “ _Oh, just a prisoner escaping_ ,” he reported back to her.

“ _He let her go, didn’t he? How romantic_ ,” she sighed.

“ _You didn’t hear it from me_ ,” he said. “ _People in love do strange things, don’t they?_ ” His question went unanswered as they both pondered its meaning.

xxxXxxx

Morgana woke with a gasp the next morning, and looked at her bracelet. The dream she’d just experienced had been so vivid, so real. But the bracelet was still supposed to prevent them. She cleared her mind and reached into the bracelet—she could still feel Morgause’s sleeping spell there. It must have been one of the kinds her sister once told her of: “ _There some dreams are so powerful that your healing bracelet will not stop them. It is a prophecy_.” A prophecy then. Well, at least for once it had been a good dream. There had been no death or destruction involved—quite the opposite. What she’d felt during the dream was joy . . . and _love_.

She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn’t notice when Gwen came in. “Good morning,” the maid greeted.

Morgana jumped. “Oh—hello Gwen. You startled me.” One of the subjects of her dream was now before her, and she blushed, thinking about Gwen’s role in it.

“You look well-rested. No bad dreams then?”

“No. I actually had a nice one for once.”

“Really? Care to talk about it?”

Morgana debated this for a moment, but decided against sharing. If this was the future, she didn’t want to risk tampering with it. “Umm, I can’t really remember what it was about, just that it was pleasant.”

Gwen quirked an eyebrow, but let it pass. Together the two women got Morgana ready for the day. Morgana’s first task was sitting at Uther’s side while he held court. Today he was to hear grievances from citizens all over Camelot, so Morgana’s attention wouldn’t be taxed much. She knew Merlin would most likely be cleaning Arthur’s chambers at the moment, while the Prince was occupied with training. It was a good time to “chat” about her dream with her fellow magic user.

“ _Merlin, are you free to talk?_ ” she sent to him.

“ _As free as I’m likely to get today—just scrubbing the prat’s floor_ ,” he replied.

“ _I had a dream last night_.”

“ _What? How? Were you wearing your bracelet?_ ”

“ _Yes, but Morgause told me that truly prophetic dreams can break through the charm on the bracelet. That means this one_ will _happen_.”

“ _Oh no. Wait, was it a bad one?_ ”

“ _No, it was actually a_ good _one. I wouldn’t have thought so once, but it definitely_ is _good_.”

“ _Well? Tell me_.”

“ _Of course, silly. I saw a grand gathering in the Great Hall. Arthur was standing at the front, formally dressed, wearing the King’s crown. All the courtiers were lined in rows- you and I were there –and Gwen walked down the aisle. She was wearing the most_ beautiful _gown! When she reached Arthur, she knelt, and . . . Merlin, Arthur crowned her_ Queen _! Isn’t that wonderful!_ ” She left out the part that strangely excited her the most—not only were she and Merlin there, but they were standing next to each other and had been _holding hands_! She didn’t want to share that with him yet. If ever.

“ _Morgana, this is_ amazing _news! It confirms what we know and what we hope for. Arthur will marry Gwen once he becomes King. I’m just so stunned!_ ” She could tell he’d stopped scrubbing.

“ _I know. I can hardly believe it myself. Our work to protect Arthur will pay off, in part, at this_.”

“ _Do you think we should help them be together more often?_ ”

“ _You mean, give them some ‘alone time?_ ’” She nearly giggled out loud.

He laughed a bit nervously. “ _Um, yes? I mean, you’re in a position to let Gwen off and I can, uh, stay out of their way_.”

“ _That shouldn’t endanger the future as long as we don’t do it too often_.”

“ _All right. Um, you’ll have to suggest it to Arthur though. He probably wouldn’t accept the idea coming from me_.”

“ _That ridiculous little_ . . .”

“ _No, it’s just that, well, you know how he is with talking about his feelings_.”

“ _Unfortunately. Maybe it’ll be easier coming from me, his sister—uh, figure_.”

Merlin didn’t want to upset her about that slip, so he let it pass. They still needed to talk about that, preferably face-to-face. He didn’t know if he could handle probable mental screaming. “ _That’s the idea. If it works he’ll probably drag me into helping him, but I can manage him that way_.”

“ _All right. I’ll catch him later. Have fun with your cleaning_.”

“ _Yeah, right. Thanks. But if you really cared you’d come help_.” Her mental laugh echoed in his head for at least five minutes after they’d finished talking. _Nice_.


	9. Chapter 9

Morgana managed to catch Arthur in his room after dinner. He’d succeeded in looking like an idiot in front of her and the King. He’d gotten distracted by Gwen and knocked over his _full_ cup.

“Morgana,” he said by way of greeting.

“Arthur, am I interrupting you?” She asked. Because he looked so into reading that _blank_ parchment.

“Not at all. Come in. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Well, I was concerned about you. You didn’t seem yourself at dinner.”

“Just a little tired.”

“Really? I thought you were so distracted because Gwen was in the room.” _Bam!_

“I don’t know what you're talking about.” _Riiiiight_.

“Honestly, Arthur. Why won’t you admit you have feelings for her? A blind man could see it. Remember the trip to Fyrien?”

“Is it really that obvious?”

“It's only obvious to me since . . . I know Gwen has feelings for you too.”

“Did she say something? What did she say?”

“You're already too arrogant. I won’t flatter you anymore.” _And she’s too shy to say anything_.

“I have such feelings for her, but I know nothing can happen between us.”

“If it's Gwen who you love, why don’t you pursue her?”

“Because she's a servant. My father would have me wed for the benefit of the kingdom.”

“Uther doesn’t know anything about love. You are the future king; you’ll be able to change the rules. Besides, how would he find out? You should spend some time with Gwen. I’m sure she'd like that.”

 _Hook, line and sinker_. He was sure to do something very soon. It’s like he was just waiting for permission. Morgana thought-cast to Merlin as she left Arthur’s room, “ _Arthur totally fell for it. Don’t be surprised if he mentions something to you today_.”

“ _Thanks. I’m on my way to check in with him now, actually_.”

“ _Have fun_.”

Merlin walked into Arthur's chambers without knocking, as usual. The Prince sat at his desk, fiddling around with a quill. “Merlin! What's new?”

Merlin's mouth fell open. _Arthur's cheery; what's wrong?_ “Um, not much, I think. I just came to check if you had anything for me to do before . . .”

“Ah, yes. I've been thinking—that is; I want to spend more time with Guinevere. Starting tomorrow. Would you go tell—no, ask her if she would spend the day with me tomorrow? If she agrees, you'll collect her in the morning and bring her to me since I can't be seen with her.”

“Of course. Shall I go do it now?”

“Yes. Then come back. I have a few chores for you.” Merlin rolled his eyes and headed out the door to Gwen's house.

“ _Good news; Arthur's doing it. I'm on my way to Gwen's house right now. He wants to spend the day with her_ ,” he thought to Morgana.

“ _Fantastic! Let me know what she says_ ,” she replied.

“ _Will do_.”

Strangely enough, he had to spend a considerable amount of time trying to talk Gwen into Arthur’s proposition. She was naturally worried they'd be caught together. In the end it took a reference to their mutual attraction to get her to agree.

“ _Morgana, she's agreed_ ,” he thought to her.

“ _Great! I'll make sure she knows she's got the day off tomorrow_.”

So the next morning, Merlin returned to Gwen's house to escort Gwen into the forest, where he'd set up the picnic for Arthur. When they got close, they saw Arthur preening in a silver platter. They started giggling. Then Merlin got an idea and shushed Gwen. “Caw caw!” He yelled.

They were rewarded by a startled Arthur dropping the platter and turning around in surprise. More laughter ensued. He was too easy to make fun of. Merlin led Gwen to Arthur then walked back into the woods. He hid behind a good-sized tree, not planning to watch for long.

He was surprised when Morgana stepped from behind another tree. “I followed you out,” she whispered. He nodded while she walked over to him.

“They'll be fine,” he told her. They watched the pair for a few more minutes. “So, do you want to go back to the castle or maybe find a secluded place to practice magic?”

“Oh, definitely magic.” She winked at him.

“I know just the place, and some good spells to go with it.”

“Well, lead on good sir.”

He led her to the clearing where he usually met with Kilgharrah. Now there was an explanation he wanted to put off as long as possible. “I come here sometimes, just for this sort of thing,” he explained. He threw his arm straight in front of him then drew it in an arc over his head from horizon to horizon. While he did this, he said, “ _Scildaþ fram oþres síena_.”

A kind of half-bubble glowed above and around them for a moment. “What was that?” Morgana asked.

“I just shielded us from prying eyes. Now I’ll stop sound leaving our little area. _Forwierne galdor lætan þes stýficléah_.”

The half-bubble shimmered gold again before turning invisible. “So no one can see or hear us?” she asked.

“Nope. If anyone comes this way, they’ll see an empty, quiet clearing,” he said, grinning at her. “So, what do you want to do today?”

“Can we practice offensive and defensive spells?”

“You just want an excuse to throw things at me.”

“Yep, you found me out. It’s a sign of respect, you know.” They looked at each other and started laughing. When they calmed down, she said, “You attack me first. I think I remember the shield spell.”

“All right, you asked for it. _Ástríce_!” he yelled.

“ _Scildan_!” she yelled just in time. Merlin’s spell died at her shield.

“Very nice. Now try something different. _Forbærne! Ácwele_!”

“ _Áblagan_!” She yelled, and the fireball ricocheted from her hand to the top of the bubble and died.

“I see studying the old language is paying off for you. _Gehæftan_!” The grass under Morgana’s feet suddenly lengthened and thickened to tangle up her feet.

“ _Forc_ —” Morgana tried, before the mutant grass muffled her mouth.

Merlin chuckled a bit before he called out, “ _Líesing_.” The grass immediately released her and shrunk back to its usual form.

“Oh, I am _so_ gonna get you for that when it’s my turn.”

“Go ahead and try. Come on, surprise me. _Ácwele_!”

“ _Edhwierfe_!” she yelled, almost before he was done speaking. The energy bolt he’d shot bounced right off her hand and returned to hit Merlin. He flew a few feet backwards and landed heavily on his back, not moving.

“Merlin!” she screamed and ran toward him. She straddled his body, propping herself up on her arms. He appeared to be breathing, and his pulse beat steadily. Morgana shook him, saying, “Merlin. Wake up. Come on, wake up! Merlin!”

Suddenly his arms shot up and yanked hers so she fell on top of him. He then started tickling her mercilessly. She laughed, squirmed and begged him to stop. Finally he stopped and stilled, staring at her face, right above his. She noticed this and immediately stopped laughing. She stared back, and for a few moments they were lost in each others’ eyes, sapphire and jade. Then her gaze switched to his lips, and she subconsciously started leaning her head down so she could meet them with hers. Her eyes fluttered closed, and just when she felt them touch, gentle pressure on her shoulders pushed her back until she was sitting up. “Morgana—” he started.

She crab-walked backwards until she was sitting on grass, then brought her knees to her chest and hugged them. “I’m so sorry, I just—”

“No, don’t apologize. I-I wanted it too.” He’d sat up. “But it won’t work, it-it can’t work. We’re from different worlds. We’d be in so much trouble if—”

“But Merlin, don’t you _feel_ it? There’s something _there_ , between us.”

“I know. But _you_ probably won’t lose your head if we’re caught.”

She stood up. “I see. You know, Arthur and Gwen are in the same position as us, and they are taking a risk, _right now_.”

“I-I just . . . I’m scared. And I’m tired of lying. I already hide _so much_ from everyone else. I don’t want to live another lie, despite what I feel. And I do feel _it_ , whatever this is between us.” He stood.

“So now what? I don’t want to lose you.” She dropped her head to look at the ground.

He walked over to her and lifted her chin with his hand. “You won’t. I won’t leave you alone—I saw what happened when I did before and I don’t want to see it again. I am your friend.” He dropped his hand and gave her a mischievous look. “So, are we going to continue or what? It’s your turn to attack.”

“Oh you! You’re going to get it!” She smirked at him and they returned to their previous positions. They continued mock fighting until the sun was overhead. Lunch was eaten, and they got back to work. By mid-afternoon they were exhausted.

Merlin looked up at the sun and said, “Uh oh, time to get the lovebirds back to the castle. If you wait a bit, I can walk back with you or do you want to go back by yourself?”

“By myself. I have some things to think about.” She gave him a pointed look.

“Oh-kay,” he replied, and proceeded to remove the spells he’d cast to shield them from others. “I’ll see you . . .” she turned and walked away without a word.  “. . . Later.” He sighed and walked to where they’d left Arthur and Gwen.

xxxXxxx

Morgana left the clearing with a lot on her mind. Merlin has been the most incredible friend to her, even before she’d been freed from Morgause’s influence. He never gave up on her even though she’d given up on him. He may have knocked her down the stairs, but he’d healed her at great personal cost. That healing spell had taken a lot out of him physically, and she could tell it had affected him emotionally, though he didn’t want to talk about it.

So maybe that was why he didn’t want to give into this thing they had between them. Something or someone had hurt him before, maybe more than once. He’d said he wanted the wanted the kiss, but claimed to be afraid of being discovered. _Ha!_ He’d told her what he told Gwen to meet Arthur today, so she _knew_ that wasn’t a valid reason. She’d have to work to get him to come around, but it would have to be slow. And not underhanded. She’d had enough of deception.

When Morgana returned to her chambers, she found the window partially open. _I don’t remember opening that_. On the window sill sat a small box, identical to the one she’d received Morgause’s first note in. _Oh great, what does she want? What do I do?_ She opened the box and unfolded the note.

“ _Sister, meet me at our tree in the Darkling Woods tonight. Our master plan is finally coming together_.”

Now she _had_ to talk to Merlin again, just to make sure she knew what to say and not give herself away. Not because she really wanted to see him again. Not that.

She waited at the window and watched as Arthur returned alone. A short time later, she saw Merlin and Gwen walk through the square and into the castle. “ _Merlin?_ ” she sent. “ _Do you have a few minutes to talk?_ ”

“ _Do you want me to come to you?_ ” he replied.

“ _Please, but wait a bit. I’ll send Gwen home for a while to clear your way_.”

“ _Okay_.” Merlin simply walked toward Morgana’s chambers and waited until Gwen passed him with a wave. He knocked on her door and she let him in.

“I’ve gotten a note from Morgause. She wants to meet me tonight, in the woods,” she said

“Lovely. You feel able to go alone, or would you like me to follow?” he asked.

“I’ll be okay by myself, I think.”

“Just pretend to still hate everyone and wish for Camelot’s demise. You’re a good actress; I know you can do this.”

She blushed. He sure knew how to make her feel good about herself. _One of his best qualities_. But then she frowned as she remembered this afternoon. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“What was _really_ stopping you this afternoon? You can’t be _that_ afraid of Uther or being with me—you wouldn’t still be protecting Arthur or meeting with me if you were.”

His smile faded. “Oh.”

“’Oh?’ Am I not right?”

“No, you are. I just—I . . .”

She took his hand led him over to sit on the bed. Then she crossed her arms and looked down at him. “Tell me. I won’t get upset.” She realized she didn’t exactly look reassuring and sat a couple feet away from him on the bed.

He took a deep breath but didn’t look at her. “Do you remember that big flying cat that killed people here two years ago?” She nodded. “Well, that wasn’t how she normally looked.”

“ _She_?”

“Yes. _She_ was a druid girl named Freya, cursed to change into that monster- a bastet -and kill. She didn’t do it on purpose and she hated it.”

“The girl that escaped from the bounty hunter?”

“Right. I freed her, but I didn’t know about her curse. Something about seeing her in that cage . . . I don’t know, I felt like it could be me in there. So I got her out, hid her in the tunnels and took care of her. In the process I . . . we . . . fell in love.”

“Oh. _Oh_. That explains what Gwen told me, something about moths?”

“Yeah, I, uh, ‘borrowed’ one of your dresses for her.” He still didn’t look up. “I decided to help Freya get out of Camelot, and I was going to go with her. I’d had enough of destiny, but destiny hadn’t had enough with me.”

“Run away? But you’re still here and she’s . . . where? What happened?”

“Destiny happened. Freya tried to escape without me and Arthur caught up to her. She changed into her bastet form and he mortally wounded her. She . . . . died.”

“Oh Merlin, I’m so sorry!”

“Thanks. But when my feelings for you started to change, I felt kind of guilty.”

“You thought you were betraying her memory.”

He finally looked up at her. “Yeah. So even though I really _really_ like you, and even though she told me to move on, I’m having a hard time.”

She scooted a bit closer and took his hand. “I understand. _Really_. Thank you for telling me.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek; he smiled. “I’ll try not to push you anymore.”

He looked at the window. “Uh oh, I’d better go before I’m sentenced to muck out the stables again.”

“Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, though I’ve got to help Arthur to prepare for that silly tournament coming up. Just think at me; we’ll see.”

xxxXxxx

Dueling and talking with Merlin had worn Morgana out, so she laid down on her bed for a short nap. She woke just after sunset to discover she’d missed dinner, which was waiting on the table. There was just enough time to eat something before she had to meet Morgause. After she ate, she strapped on her dagger and draped her favorite dark green cloak over her shoulders.

By the time she reached the forest, her mind was mostly cleared. It was time to put on her hateful persona, which was becoming harder and harder the longer she was free from Morgause’s spell. But she was fairly confident she could deceive her sister. As she stepped up to “their” tree, a shadowy Morgause appeared from behind it. “Sister,” she said lovingly, and stepped forward to embrace Morgana. “What news of Camelot?”

“The Pendragons remain unaware of my changed loyalties,” she smirked. “They are hosting a tournament soon, open to all comers. It shouldn’t be too hard to use my ‘charms’ to persuade one or two combatants to ‘hurt’ Arthur. Maybe even _fatally_.”

“Perfect, Morgana. One less royal we’ll have to worry about when we bring the plan to pass.”

“Oh yes, the plan. What can you tell me about it? I want to be ready.”

“Well, we’re going to invade and take over Camelot, of course. And now that we know you’re Uther’s daughter, we will get rid of him and place you on the throne. That’s assuming you’re able to take care of Arthur.”

“Of course. It _will_ be done.” She smirked again.

“All you have to do is continue to secretly undermine the Pendragons and wait for our army to arrive. I shall send word before that happens.” She put her hands on either side of Morgana’s face. “It will be a _glorious_ day. Uther will die knowing _he_ is the cause of Camelot’s downfall and his own death.” She laughed with a sick sort of mirth; Morgana joined in for a moment.

“I look forward to that day, sister,” Morgana replied.

“As do I. Then we need not be separated again.”

“I had better be going. If I’m gone too long _he_ will come after me.”

“The serving boy? Why do you not just kill him?”

“Because it’s more fun to manipulate him and use him to distract Arthur.”

“As you wish.” She embraced Morgana again. “Farewell sister. Good luck in your endeavors.”

“The same to you. Farewell Morgause.”

Morgause stepped back and disappeared into her usual whirlwind. Morgana sighed and made her way back to the castle. _This plan is much worse than I expected! I don’t want to be queen!_ Once she reached her chambers, she went to bed. But she didn’t fall asleep for a long time.


	10. Chapter 10

In the morning, Merlin was just finishing mucking out the stables _again_ when Morgana contacted him. She wanted to meet face-to-face, but he definitely needed a bath first. “ _Give me an hour, Morgana, and then come to Gaius’s chambers. He won’t be there so we can talk for a while_.”

“ _All right, see you then_.”

Merlin enjoyed his bath—he could reheat the water whenever it got cold. So it was no surprise that he’d lost track of time. He didn’t hear Morgana enter the outer chambers, so he was blissfully unaware of her presence until she opened the door to his room. She shrieked then covered her mouth when she saw him. He was very glad for the bubbles that covered much of the water, and reached out to gather more toward him. Still she didn’t move, but looked at him with interest until he said, “Morgana!”

“Oh,” she replied, still not moving.

“Morgana, do you mind?” He motioned toward the door with his head.

“Oh,” she repeated, and moved out the door, giggling the whole way.

Merlin rolled his eyes and reached for the towel. _I’m never going to live this down_. He dried and dressed slowly, for once _not_ in a hurry to be alone with her. As he walked out into the main chamber, he kept his eyes on the floor. He would talk to her but he did _not_ have to look at her face.

“Nice to see you Merlin! Though I didn’t think I’d get to see so _much_ of you,” Morgana said.

He flushed red. “Ha ha. So what is it you wanted to talk about?”

She noticed his blush and how he avoided her eyes. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t really mean to stand there gawking at you like that. I was more than a little surprised. Or shocked. And I didn’t see anything, um, below your chest, if that helps.”

“Not really,” he mumbled, still not looking at her.

“Merlin.” She reached out and lifted his chin and he finally looked at her. “I really _am_ sorry. I liked what I saw.”

He gave her a faint smile. “Okay.” With more confidence he said, “Let’s sit down and talk.”

“All right,” Morgana said. “Morgause is definitely planning to invade Camelot again, probably with Cenred’s help. She wants to get rid of Arthur and Uther and put me on the throne.”

“Put you on the throne? Oh that’s right, you’re . . .” he suddenly ceased speaking.

“ _Wait_. What were you going to say there?”

“Um . . . you’re the natural choice if she or Cenred don’t want the throne?”

“Why did that sound like a question?” She turned to glare at him. “That’s not what you were going to say, was it?”

“No.” He blew out a sigh. “I was in my room when Uther confessed to Gaius that he’s your father. While you were ill.” She narrowed her eyes angrily. “In my defense, he didn’t know I was there and I couldn’t sleep.”

It was Morgana’s turn to sigh. “I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with Uther! That poor excuse of humanity has lied to me for years, denied my heritage, killed too many of my kin to count, and would kill me and you if he found out our true natures.” She tried to stand, but Merlin caught her hand to hold her down.

“Morgana, I don’t like him any more than you do. It makes me sick to be in his presence, but I don’t hate him. I _pity_ him. He blamed all of magic for his misguided choice, and eventually he _will_ be punished for what he’s done. I just have to have faith and hope for the future—the one Arthur will create with _our_ help. Patience.”

“Patience is _not_ my strong suit.” She laughed ironically.

“I know,” he replied, and started tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. “Is there anything else to the plan?”

“I told her I’d ‘take care of’ Arthur in the upcoming tournament.” Merlin’s eyes grew wide at this. “Don’t worry—I won’t really.” He relaxed. “She probably expects me to fail anyway. I’m also supposed to be pretending I’m loyal to the Pendragons while simultaneously undermining them.”

“Wow. Fun.”

“No, not really. Oh, and she’s going to send word before they invade, so I can be ready.”

“At least we have that.”

“Yeah.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry about all the anger. I just . . . am having a hard time getting over this hate. I’ve hated Uther since before I met Morgause, so _that’s_ not related to her spell.”

“It’s understandable.” He changed position to straddle the bench. Then he reached out with his free arm and put it around her back, pulling her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder. “This is what friends- or whatever we are –are for.” He rubbed her back comfortingly.

She brought her free hand up to his shoulder. “Thank you Merlin. You’re one of the reasons I’m still here.” She moved that hand to the back of his neck and breathed him in. _Mmmm_. Then she started nuzzling his neck, pressing little light kisses to what skin she could find.

He sat still and unthinking for the moment. “Mmmm,” he groaned, and used the hand on her back to pull her closer. She responded by untying his neckerchief, reaching to kiss the newly exposed skin. He let go of her hand so both of his could drift to her lower back, to hold her in place.

Her free hand slid up his side, under his arm and to his back. She sighed in satisfaction while her mouth drifted down his collarbone. Her other hand move to the side of his neck as she kissed there and along his jaw. She was so lost in the haze of emotion that she barely heard what he whispered in her head.

“ _Morgana_ ,” he thought to her. “ _Morgana, please stop_.” Her mouth paused right next to his. “ _You’re pushing me again_.”

She kissed back over to his ear. “ _But I know you’re enjoying this as much as I am_.” He was still holding on to her lower back.

“ _I am_ ,” he confirmed. “ _And right now I . . . but I’m going a little crazy and this is risky. Anyone could walk in here and catch us_.”

She ceased kissing him and brought her head around to lay her forehead on his. “ _That’s true, but at least I got you to admit it_.” She smirked and slid down the bench a bit.

He took her hands with his. “You must know I feel the same way about you. But ‘we’ just can’t be right now.” She frowned and looked down. “Hey,” he said, squeezing her hands until she looked back up at him, “that doesn’t mean that ‘we’ will never be. I’m willing to wait as long as it takes; you’re worth it.” And he smiled his brilliant smile at her.

She looked into his eyes and saw nothing but the truth of what he’d said there. “You’re worth it too.” She smiled shyly at him before throwing her arms around him for a few moments.

“Now, are you ready to be serious again?” he teased as she sat back.

“If I have to be,” she replied, and gave him a wink.

“All right. This invasion is a pretty serious threat. We should tell Arthur about it.”

“Whoa there. How _much_ will we tell him?”

He thought for a minute. “He’ll want to know where we obtained the information. I think we should tell him about you spying on Morgause.”

“But—”

“Not everything. He already knows she kidnapped you. We could say she’s been keeping in contact with you, trying to win you over to her side.” At her disgruntled face, he said, “What? It’s not a total lie.”

“What about the part where I was on her side?”

“Well, we can tell the truth about that, about how you had a change of heart. Or we can do it the other way. Conveniently leaving out all mention of magic, of course.”

“All right. We’ll go with the change of heart. It’s much closer to the truth.”

“Okay. I’d say we do it now, but he’s distracted by tournament preparations. People will start arriving tomorrow.”

“That’s settled.” She looked up at the window. “Looks like lunchtime—you’d better get going before Arthur bellows for you.”

In the distance, they heard “ _MERLIN!_ ”

They both laughed as they stood. She put her hand to his face. “See you later. I hope he’s not too hard on you.”

“No worries. I can handle what he gives out.” With another laugh, they both walked out of the room.

xxxXxxx

The next day dawned. In the process of helping Arthur with the tournament, he’d learned not only that it was open to all comers, but that they could use any weapons they’d like. In fact, Arthur’s exact words were, “’ _The only rule is: there are no rules_.’” That made Merlin nervous, despite the fact that Arthur was probably the best swordsman in the five kingdoms. He’d seen some pretty nasty weapons out on the training field.

At present, he was in the armory, fixing Arthur’s armor. Two men wandered in, one demanding that Merlin clean his boots. When he didn’t move fast enough, one struck him with his whip. Suddenly a younger man stepped into the room. He looked younger than Merlin himself, and unlike any warrior he’d ever seen. The newcomer intervened, asking the man to put down his whip. When he didn’t, the new guy grabbed a sword and forced the whip from the ruffian’s hand, and a dagger he hadn’t seen. Merlin thanked him and learned his name was Gilli.

The next morning, the tournament began. Arthur defeated his opponent handily, and advanced. To his surprise, Gilli also competed. He took a cut to the shoulder, but what was worse was his use of magic. Merlin was fairly sure no one besides him had seen it. It looked like he’d have to warn the kid.

He and Gaius approached him after his match, offering treatment for his wound. He turned it down, but not before they noticed his ring—his _magic-imbued_ ring. Gaius later confirmed his suspicions about Gilli and the ring.

A little later in the day, the King called for Gaius. Some guards saw a man in an alcove and a bright flash of light. The heat left a scorch mark on the adjoining door. Gaius managed to downplay all the evidence, giving other plausible reasons for it. Fortunately the King didn’t see the ring Gilli had dropped in his haste to leave. He’d used a crude sort of healing spell. Merlin had to step in and save this sorcerer/warrior from himself.

So Merlin paid Gilli a visit at the inn, under the pretense of checking on his wound. Then he not-so-subtly brought up how he'd seen Gilli use magic, and gave back the ring. Gilli explained he'd gotten the ring from his father, who'd been afraid to use his magic. He felt his father had been a coward and didn't want to be like him; he thought he should get to use his skill with magic in the competition. Gilli wanted to prove that he was _someone_ because of his magic and not have to hide. Merlin could empathize with this, but Gilli would probably die if he didn't drop out. They couldn’t continue the conversation after that point because Gilli’s roommates returned.

xxxXxxx

The next day, Arthur won his bout handily and moved onto tomorrow’s semifinal. Merlin watched Gilli enter the ring with one of the thugs he’d stood up to in the armory the other day. The big man forced Gilli up against the stands where the other thug grabbed him and held him there. But Gilli was wearing the ring again, and used his magic to throw the big guy away from him. Gilli strode over to the stunned man and struck him fatally.

After the bout, Merlin followed Gilli to the armory. He advised the younger man to withdraw from the competition, and Gilli agreed. He’d decided that he didn’t like killing. _Well that was a relief_.

Merlin walked back to Gaius’s chambers to get some dinner before he crashed. He told Gaius about what had happened with Gilli, but didn’t speak much after. He’d gotten up to go to his room when Morgana contacted him.

“ _How goes it? Long time, no talk_ ,” she thought at him.

“ _Ohhhh it’s been a really long couple of days. Sorry for the silence_ ,” he replied.

“ _I understand—Arthur’s probably keeping you busier than normal_.”

“ _And having me run around to help others too. And then there’s this other problem_ . . .”

“ _What other problem?_ ”

“ _A sorcerer in the tournament. Using magic to win his battles, no less_.”

“ _That’s dangerous—for him_.”

“ _Definitely. I think I’ve managed to talk him into withdrawing_.”

“ _Good. Who is it?_ ”

“ _The really non-warrior-looking guy? Small, with borrowed weapons_.”

“ _Oh him. He killed his opponent today?_ ”

“ _That’s him. I hope he does withdraw. I really don’t want him to get hurt or worse—lose his head_.”

“ _Yeah. Well, you ’sound’ tired, so I’ll let you rest_.”

“ _Thank you. Goodnight_.”

“ _Goodnight Merlin_.”

xxxXxxx

Arthur once again won his bout, but this one sent him into the final. Now he just had to wait until his opponent was decided. That would be when Gilli’s opponent won by default. But as he stood there, watching with Gaius, he saw Gilli walk into the arena and thoroughly beat up his opponent. Now he was in the final. _With Arthur_.

This development led to a disheartening conversation with Gaius. The physician wanted to warn Arthur what he was going up against, that Gilli’s use of magic for his own gain was corrupting him. But Merlin wanted to talk to him again. Gilli’d had no one to advise him how to used magic, so he deserved another chance. This time Merlin hoped Gilli would really listen to him.

Once again Merlin found himself heading to the inn. He found Gilli telling his story about the bout he’d just one. One look told the younger man what Merlin wanted. They walked together to his room.

Merlin told him how his opponent was doing. He’d been near fatally wounded. Gilli seemed to brush that off—it was all right as long as _he_ wasn’t injured. He had the respect he’d craved and assumed Merlin had never felt that way. _Well he’s wrong about that_.

Merlin got up and closed the door to the room. He clenched his hand into a fist and whispered, “ _Forbærnan_.” Then he walked over to Gilli and opened his fist to reveal a small flame. Gilli looked on in shock while Merlin said, “It's . . . lonely. To . . . have more power than any man you know and have to live as a shadow. To . . . be special and, and have to act like a fool. I know how it feels, I understand.”

Gilli replied, “Then you know why I must fight. If the Prince is killed, so what? How many of our kin have perished at his or Uther’s hands? How many more will? It's time for those with magic to fight back!”

Merlin tried to talk Gilli down by speaking quieter to him, but he finally lost it, yelling at him, “You have to learn to use your magic for _good_! That is its real purpose! It isn’t meant for your own pride!”

Gilli then told him how he wasn’t going to apologize for who he was or pretend to be something he wasn’t. He thought Merlin was a fool for defending and protecting the Prince, and accused him of forgetting who he was. When Merlin denied that, Gilli told him he was too weak and that he’d “strike a blow” for all those with magic. He left the room before Merlin could reply.

 _Well that didn’t work_ , Merlin thought as he trudged away from the tavern. He couldn’t sleep for thinking about the problem, so when he was sure Gaius was asleep, he left to summon Kilgharrah. They hadn’t spoken since he’d told Merlin off for wanting to save Morgana. _This will be interesting_.

The talk with Kilgharrah wasn’t very helpful, but at least he’d forgiven him for forcing Morgana’s healing spell out of him. Maybe Morgana could help—in the morning.


	11. Chapter 11

After getting Arthur ready for the match, he and Merlin walked down to the tournament grounds. On the way, he contacted Morgana by thought. “ _Where are you now?_ ”

“ _Walking out of the castle. What’s going on?_ ” she replied.

“ _Can you distract Arthur’s opponent for me? I have to stop him from using magic, but if you’re working on him too_ . . .”

“ _And how am I supposed to ‘distract’ him?_ ”

“ _Um, by using your feminine charms? Talk to him before he goes in; gush over his skill. And while he’s fighting, smile and wave to get his attention_.”

“ _You will owe me for this, you realize that? It’s a good thing I l_ . . .”

“ _What was that last?_ ”

“ _Never mind. Go do your part; I’ll do mine_.” She ended abruptly with an almost audible _pop_.

 _Strange_. He stationed himself near the entrance of the training grounds and watched Gilli approach. Morgana intercepted him by the tents; he watched as she fawned all over him. Gilli smiled and blushed—clearly he wasn’t used to such feminine attention. Finally she allowed him to go. When he walked by Merlin, they locked eyes. Merlin shook his head, but Gilli smirked and continued on his way.

Merlin sighed and walked into the arena. He stood relatively close to the combatants so he could see every move. Morgana sat in the stands next to Uther, almost directly across from him. She nodded and caught Gilli’s attention, giving him a sugary sweet smile. Arthur and Gilli faced each other, saluted and began fighting.

It wasn’t long before Gilli used magic. Merlin counteracted the effect and Gilli gave him a look. Merlin simply stared back. Gilli got his head back into the fight, only to be distracted a moment later when Morgana waved at him. This caused him to lose his shield. When Arthur saw this, he tossed his own shield aside and indicated for Gilli to continue. They resumed fighting again, and Gilli once again used magic. Merlin stopped it again. Fortunately he didn’t have to stop Gilli again, because Arthur disarmed him, knocking him to the ground in the process. In typical Arthur fashion, he moved his sword away from Gilli’s throat and extended a hand to help him up.

As Gilli left the field, Merlin hurried over. He tried to apologize but Gilli didn’t want to hear it. He’d have to try and catch him before he left. As he stared after Gilli, he thought to Morgana, “ _Thank you_.”

“ _You’re welcome. I guess we saved Arthur_ again,” she paused for a moment. “ _And don’t forget I have a favor to collect_.” He turned and saw her leaving the stands, smirking in his direction. Merlin didn’t know if he should be afraid or not. _Probably_.

Merlin walked to the inn once again. He walked right into Gilli’s room. _I might as well be blunt_.

He explained he didn’t have a choice but to stop Gilli, then the young man accused _him_ of betraying their kind. But Merlin turned it back on him, reiterating his point, “Magic isn’t meant for fighting or to bring you glory.”

That shut Gilli down. After he’d thought for a moment, he talked about his father. How he must have been strong when he didn’t use magic, because he knew it could corrupt. And he _apologized_! That’s how he knew Gilli had _finally_ gotten the message.

Time for a bit of encouragement. “I know it doesn't seem like it now, but someday magic will be allowed once again. And when that day comes, you won’t have to hide who you are any longer. Your talents will be appreciated. We, we will be free. And who knows, maybe then our paths will cross again.”

They shook hands as kin, and Merlin went to the battlements to watch Gilli leave. Someday he’d be able to make good on that prediction. Because Gilli reminded him of himself when he’d first come to Camelot. Kilgharrah and Gaius had told _him_ of the day he’d be free. He’d passed the good news along to Gilli, and maybe Gilli would do the same for someone else someday. Spreading hope was one thing he _could_ do.

He heard footsteps coming toward him and recognized them instantly. _Morgana_. What does it say about him that he knows how her footsteps sound? She came up next to him. “How’s it going?” she asked.

“It’s going,” he replied.

“So, what are you doing up here?”

“Thinking.”

“About what?”

“Gilli. The guy we forced to lose to Arthur.”

“It was for his own good, you know that.”

“Yeah. I talked to him after. Luckily he finally understood what I’ve been trying to tell him.”

“What was that?”

“Basically the same thing I told you. Magic exists to be used for good. That it corrupts when it’s used for one’s own gain.”

“Ah. It took a few days before that lesson sunk in for me.”

“I also told him that magic will be permitted one day, and we’ll be free, no more hiding. Sometimes that goal seems so close and other times it feels so far away.”

She took one of his hands. “I used to think I had to tear everything down in order to build it up again the way _I_ wanted. But you taught me that that isn’t true. You taught me patience and hope, and now I’m giving some back to you.” She put a hand to his face and he looked into her eyes. “You’re not in this alone anymore. I’m here—lean on me.” She moved her arms to his back and brought him forward in an embrace. He was, now, literally leaning on her.

He slowly brought his arms around her and leaned his head on her shoulder. “Thank you.” They stood that way for a couple more minutes then broke apart.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “You still owe me.”

“I—”

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you know before I call it in.” She smirked up at him. “Now attend me to the dining room. Dinner won’t eat itself, you know.” He laughed and followed her to her dinner.

xxxXxxx

A few days later, a patrol went missing. They’d been scouting Camelot’s border with Essetir; it was completely routine. Then a messenger from King Cenred delivered a message: the patrol had crossed over into his land and an example had to be made. All four patrolling knights had been killed, including their leader, Sir Leon.

Camelot mourned for a few days. Then they received a huge surprise—Sir Leon returned, alive and well. When questioned, he related how the druids had found him and brought him back to life. When pressed, he told the court how he was saved by magic, through drinking from a cup.

The King later questioned Gaius about Leon’s health and the mysterious cup. Leon was completely healed, like he’d never been near death. Gaius theorized that the cup was the legendary Cup of Life, which shocked Uther and Merlin, who’d been listening. Uther wanted to retrieve the cup before Cenred did, and could not be talked out of that decision. He was afraid of a legend he’d heard about the Cup. Gaius told Merlin the legend—a warlord used the Cup to collect a drop of blood from each of his warriors. This made them immortal, and they wrought terrible carnage across the land. So would Morgause if she had possession of the Cup.

A little later on, Arthur summoned Merlin to his room. He was informed that they were going on a trip and wanted to be ready before sunrise. Arthur gave no information about where or why they’d be going. Only that they’d be traveling through dangerous, bandit-infested lands. Of course Merlin already knew those details, as much as could be known about them, anyway.

On his way back to his room so he could pack, Merlin was waylaid by a hand on his arm yanking him into an alcove. _Morgana_. In his surprise, he asked, “What is it with you and alcoves?”

Morgana had opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again, too stunned to speak for the moment. When she’d regained her composure, she simply said, “They’re conveniently private.”

“Oh,” he replied.

“ _Anyway_ ,” she said, “I heard about your trip, and I wanted to wish you luck. And to tell you to _be careful_.”

He was a bit surprised by this, but also touched. “How did you hear about this?”

“I overheard Uther talking to Arthur.”

“Ah. Of course I’ll be careful. But I can’t help it if Arthur’s a trouble magnet.”

“I think it’s _you_ who’s the trouble magnet. Arthur’s life was never in serious peril _before_ you showed up here.” She winked to show she was just kidding.

“Well thanks, Milady.” He winked back.

They stood gazing at each other for a moment before she spoke again. “Please do be careful. If I lost you, I’d . . .” She broke off and looked down at the floor.

“Hey,” he put a hand under her chin and tilted her head back up, then dropped his hand so he could take hers. “Try not to worry. I’m ‘the greatest warlock to ever live,’ remember?” He grinned his goofiest grin.

She responded by grabbing his face with both of her hands, and bringing it down to her level. Then she lightly brushed her lips over his. She let him go and said, “I mean it,” before flouncing out of the alcove and walking away at a brisk pace.

He stood there, mouth slightly open. _What just happened_? Finally he shook his head and slowly eased out of the alcove, resuming his walk to his room. He didn’t think he’d be able to sleep at all that night, but he managed to do so without much trouble.

Just before sunrise, Merlin met Arthur in the square. They attached their various supplies to their saddles, mounted and left. They both hoped it would be a short and safe journey, but knew this wouldn’t likely be the case. Traveling into a hostile nation to find an object of immense power was _not_ for the faint of heart.

A few hours later, they crossed into the Forest of Essetir, which naturally led into that country. Unnoticed by the mounted pair, spies belonging to Cenred watched them for a few minutes, then slunk away to report back to Cenred. At this point, Merlin decided to insinuate to Arthur that he knew where they were going. This led to a discussion about their chances of survival, which Merlin theorized weren’t good. He was just about to make his final point when he felt a prick in his neck and looked down to see a dart there. Then he passed out.

The next thing he knew were slaps to his face, so he opened his eyes to tell off whoever it was. He looked up to see several men staring down at him and his reprimand died on his lips. Arthur helped him up and looked around. Suddenly someone put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder and he turned around to discover Gwaine, of all people.

Gwaine explained they’d landed in the clutches of a slave trader named Jarl. Just then, the scumbag himself showed up and demanded a volunteer to fight his “champion” for his entertainment. When no one stepped up, he pointed at Merlin. But Arthur jumped in, volunteering himself, and discovered that the champion was Gwaine. Arthur and Gwaine formed a loose plan to mock fight and hope that could somehow lead to escape. Merlin noticed their plan was going nowhere, so he set the ropes above them on fire. That caused enough distraction so they were able to escape.

Once they’d run sufficiently far away from the fortress, they paused to rest. Merlin not-so-accidentally blabbed about their quest to Gwaine. That earned him a smack to the back of his head from Arthur, but he’d accomplished his goal—Gwaine volunteered to join them. As they resumed walking, Gwaine and Arthur got in a fight about who’d won the fight back in the fortress. Merlin finally got sick of it and interjected, “One more minute and both of you would've died. Neither of you won. Your plan was an ill-considered disaster, and if it wasn’t for that fire we’d all be pushing up daisies.”

They were pretty quiet after that, until they reached the cave they thought the druids were hiding in. They walked into the cave and it was obvious _someone_ was living there. Arthur caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and reached into a dwelling to pull out a little boy. He shook the boy and demanded the Cup, not noticing how they’d been surrounded by druids. A man who looked like an elder stepped forward. He offered Arthur the Cup in return for letting the boy go. Arthur agreed, and received a warning with the Cup, “By obtaining the Cup of Life you risk more than you realize.”

Arthur replied that he’d take his chances, and turned to leave. Gwaine and Merlin followed him, but Merlin was stopped by unexpected mind speech from the elder, “ _Emrys. The Cup is under your protection now. Guard it carefully. The future of this land rests on it_.”

He mulled this over as they walked away from the cave. _He must mean I should keep it from Morgause. What else could he mean?_ They kept walking.

Not too long later they approached the border. They were having a discussion about their “great deed” when Arthur stopped, proclaiming it too quiet. That’s when Cenred’s men jumped out of their hiding places and the three questing men ran for it. The soldier chasing Arthur shot him with a crossbow. Arthur went down, losing consciousness while the soldier took the Cup. Merlin blew the man backwards with a spell, and he dropped the cup. Merlin ran to grab the Cup, but it flew over the side of a steep embankment and into the hands of one of the soldiers.

He had to make a quick decision between going after the Cup and seeing to Arthur. When Gwaine yelled his name in a panic, he made his decision and went back to Arthur. The wound looked like it had been poisoned. While he treated Arthur, Merlin explained why Cenred’s possession of the Cup was bad. He determined he’d have to heal Arthur magically, so he sent Gwaine after more firewood. The spell didn’t work, so when Gwaine came back, they bedded down for the night.

Arthur woke the other two in the morning with the words, “Where’s the Cup?” He was understandably upset when they explained that Cenred had it. He complained they shouldn’t have let his injury hold them back from retrieving it. He finally decided they should head to Camelot, and set off, limping heavily.

xxxXxxx

Back in Camelot, Morgana had received a note from Morgause, via a raven, the night before. Morgause proclaimed how they’d stolen the Cup from Arthur and had used it to make Cenred’s army immortal. Morgause mentioned she’d killed Cenred and taken control of his army, who were now on their way to liberate Camelot and crown Morgana.

Morgana dropped the note in horror. _This cannot be happening now, not while Merlin and Arthur are gone_. An unbeatable army was on its way and would arrive before the knights’ leader and Camelot’s secret protector. She and Merlin hadn’t even gotten to tell Arthur about Morgause’s plan.

She’d just gotten back from court in the council chamber. Uther had called in the court because Leon’s search and rescue team had arrived back from looking for Arthur. They didn’t find him but they’d found Cenred’s army. When they started back to Camelot, they were ambushed by a few of the army’s advance scouts. The unfortunate knights quickly discovered that the enemy soldiers could not be killed. As far as Leon knew, he was the only one who’d survived that ambush.

 _Oh Merlin, where are you?_ She thought as she looked out the window. In the distance she watched _Morgause’s_ army assemble outside Camelot’s walls. Within those walls, knights and soldiers prepared for a hopeless battle at dawn. _Time for the acting job of my life_.


	12. Chapter 12

Arthur, Gwaine and Merlin reached a hill in front of the first village over Camelot’s border. They were stunned to see homes burning as if a great firestorm had descended upon them. A few hours later they came across several of Camelot’s knights fallen to the ground, dead. Merlin noticed that there wasn’t a single enemy body, which led Arthur to conclude they’d been killed by immortal men.

They reached a hill above Camelot just after nightfall. Smoke rose from homes in the lower town and citadel. As they got closer, they found bodies of Camelot’s army strewn everywhere.  Arthur’s thoughts immediately jumped to Gwen, so when they reached the lower town, they stopped at her house and kicked the door in. They heard a furious battle cry and Elyan jumped out at them. He calmed and told them about the immortal men, mentioning that Gwen was still at the citadel, which had been taken by the enemy. The four men left the house and stealthily walked toward the citadel.

Once there, Arthur struggled to stand, let alone make decisions. Merlin took over, asking Elyan and Gwaine to search for Uther and Gwen. He forced Arthur down to the physician’s chambers. He sat Arthur down and searched for something to treat his leg with. They heard a rattling sound coming from the closet, and when Merlin jerked it open, Gaius came tumbling out. After a hug and short conversation, Gaius went to treat Arthur, who insisted he just wanted something to keep him going.

While Gaius helped Arthur, Merlin went to his room to retrieve a few things from his hiding space. He packed the spellbook and, after some thought, the vial of water the Fisher King had given him. While still in his room, he contacted Morgana mentally. “ _Morgana, what’s happening with you?_ ”

“ _Merlin! Oh, thank goodness you’re here! Morgause is here with me and she wants to crown me_ right now _!_ ” she replied.

“ _Oh Morgana. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. We had the Cup but I didn’t take care of it. All this is my fault_.”

“ _No, you cannot take all the blame for this. We should have talked to Arthur when you wanted to; we could have stopped her . . ._ ” She sounded like she could burst into tears any second.

“ _Morgana, calm down. Don’t slip in front of Morgause. See if you can delay your ‘coronation.’ How much of Camelot’s army is left?_ ”

“ _Most of the knights are alive and in the dungeon. With Uther. Many of the regular soldiers were killed. Those left are in the dungeon or have pretended to change sides_.”

“ _That’s good. How about Gwen?_ ”

“ _She’s safe and here with me, trying to remain calm under pressure_.”

“ _Okay, great. I’ll get back with you when I can; I’ve got to confer with Arthur and the others. Keep up that acting; I know you can do it_.”

“ _I will, Merlin. And thanks_.”

“ _Of course, my love_.” Merlin clapped his hand over his mouth even though he hadn’t spoken aloud. _Did I just say that?_ He hurriedly closed the mental link, but not before feeling Morgana’s shocked silence. There wasn’t much time to fret over it; Gwaine and Elyan had entered Gaius’s chambers.

They reported that they’d seen Uther in the dungeon, but he was being taken to the throne room, Arthur directed everyone besides him to flee to the woods while he tried to free his father. Gwaine, Elyan and Gaius left, but Merlin refused. He knew Arthur needed him, even if it was just to pick him up off the floor when he eventually collapsed.

Arthur and Merlin snuck through the castle, up to the balcony overlooking the throne room. Morgause sat in the throne, and Uther had just been forced to his knees in front of her. She threw a few insults at him, and had his crown forcibly removed. When Uther screamed that she had no right to the crown, Morgause told him she knew someone who did, and that _her_ coronation would take place very soon. Arthur bristled at the insults, but Merlin managed to contain him. It was time to go.

Merlin had a terrible time convincing Arthur that leaving and regrouping was the right choice for now. In fact, he had to threaten him, saying he’d knock him out with a potion and drag him from the castle. As they left, he contacted Morgana again. “ _Morgana, we’re leaving_.”

“ _What?!_ ” she replied. “ _You can’t! How will that help? What will I do? I don’t want to be queen_.”

“ _Morgana. We’re not deserting you. We’re going to find someplace to hide, regroup, plan, and come back. I don’t know how long it’ll take. But we_ will _return and take back Camelot. I’ll find out how to defeat the immortals_.”

“ _I’m scared, Merlin_.”

“ _Morgana, you’re the strongest person I know. Keep delaying Morgause on the coronation. If she won’t put up with it, let it happen. Don’t let her tell you what to do. You_ can _do this_.”

“ _All right. Well, it’s not really all right, but I understand.”_ He heard her sigh mentally. _“Be safe, Merlin. I can’t live without you_.”

“ _Morgana . . . I’ll be back. I’ll come within range of mind speech, and we’ll talk_.”

“ _Merlin. Did you mean it?_ ”

“ _Mean what?_ ”

“’ _My love_.’”

He paused for a minute. _Did I really mean it? Really?_ He took a deep breath. “ _Yes Morgana, I meant it_.”

“ _Merlin . . . I . . ._ ”

“ _Save it. Save it for when we’re together again. It’ll give us something to look forward to_.”

“ _Okay, I will. For you, I will. Farewell, Merlin._ ”

“ _Until I see you again, my love_.”

xxxXxxx

A week passed. Morgana had tried everything she could to delay her coronation— requiring a new dress for it, a day to meditate, a day to gather a sufficient amount of nobles to witness . . . but eventually she could think of no more excuses and Morgause became impatient. Morgana was reluctantly crowned on the fifth day after Morgause’s takeover. In the process, the court became aware of Morgana’s true parentage. Uther stayed in the dungeon, drowning in regret and shame that Morgana and the rest of the kingdom knew his deepest secret.

Morgause had tried various tactics to get the knights to swear fealty to the new Queen. They’d refused at every turn, so she determined something different to try, without informing Morgana. Morgause lined up the knights in the square, directing her soldiers to stand across from them with crossbows. After the crowd had assembled, she demanded that the knights swear to serve Morgana. Leon yelled, “Long live the King!” When the rest of the knights repeated that phrase, Morgause dropped her hand as a signal for the archers to fire, but instead of firing at the knights, they turned and fired into the crowd.

When Morgana heard this, she was furious with Morgause and confronted her in the throne room. Morgause simply stood there and said, “Stronger measures are needed.” In her anger, Morgana flew from the room and stalked up to her chambers.

Morgana really wanted to scream, but instead walked to the window and burst into tears. _First she waylaid Arthur, overthrew the King, and killed innocents. What’s next?_ She was so immersed in despair that she didn’t notice Gwen had been in the room the whole time.

Gwen hadn’t been sure what to think of the whole invasion. At first it had seemed Morgana was on the side of Morgause, who was her _sister_ , of all things. But she seemed very reluctant to take the throne, trying to put it off. Now Morgana was crying—about what, Gwen didn’t know. She had witnessed the massacre from the window. If Morgana supported that, why would she be crying now? “Milady? Morgana? What’s wrong?”

Morgana jumped in surprise. “G-Gwen? I d-didn’t see you,” she sniffed.

Gwen walked over to the distraught Queen and took her hands. “Is it that—that _thing_ Morgause just did?”

“Y-yes,” she got out before she started sobbing again.

“Oh Morgana,” Gwen said, then embraced her friend. She could tell that this was her friend, _not_ someone who wanted vengeance. _Not_ like Morgause.

Morgana sobbed for a few more minutes, her heart aching. _Oh Merlin, where are you? You promised!_ She gradually calmed then spoke, “I _hate_ what Morgause did to those people! Gwen, you have to believe me, I _never_ wanted _any_ of this! She’s my sister, and I love her for that, but I _never_ wanted her to invade Camelot! I _never_ wanted to be Queen! I _hate_ how she doesn’t care who gets hurt!” Now she was furious again, but didn’t want to scare Gwen.

“I believe you Morgana. When I look into your eyes, all I see is heartache and concern for the people. Morgause disgusts me! Because of her, the King and knights are imprisoned and Arthur cannot come help us. He’d be killed on sight!”

“I know. I want to help him, but how? I want to release the knights so they can join him, but _she_ will notice. I want to send you away so you can be safe.”

“Morgana, as much as I want to flee, I’d rather stay with you, to support you. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Oh, Gwen, I’m glad. But I still want you to get away. And . . . maybe take a knight or two with you?”

“I will, if you really think it will help.”

“Definitely. I know Morgause keeps the dungeon keys in her wardrobe in her room. What if I divert her attention elsewhere and you take the keys? You can maybe free Sir Leon. I’ll bet he, of anyone, knows where Arthur is hiding.”

“Oh yes! It will be obvious that he’s a man if we’re spotted, so I’ll get him a dress. No one will be looking for two women courtiers!”

“Gwen, you’re brilliant!” Morgana smiled for the first time that afternoon. She finally found a way to help Arthur and Merlin. Gwen would be able to share the state of the castle and Leon would help strategize.

Later, in the evening, Morgana engaged Morgause to dine with her. Gwen snuck into Morgause’s chambers and took the dungeon keys. She found Leon’s cell and explained the plan to him. Before she could free anyone else, guards came down the corridor. With quick apologies to the other knights, Gwen and Leon snuck out of the dungeon. He waited in the armory for her to return the keys and come back. They then left together through the same secret passage Arthur used to escape with Mordred. Soon they were in the Darkling woods, fleeing as fast as their feet could carry them.

xxxXxxx

Much had happened to Arthur and the four who had fled with him. They’d gone to a cave Arthur knew of, with a concealed entrance and running water. Arthur was recovering from his injury and Merlin had written to Lancelot for assistance. So far there was no word from him, and Arthur’s dejected attitude was growing daily.

Merlin went to deliver a freshly cooked bowl of rat stew to Arthur. He refused it and told Merlin to go away. But the servant wasn’t going to comply this time. He told Arthur how Camelot, his father and Morgana needed him. It was his duty to help them, even with an immortal army in his way. After all, they wouldn’t know if they could defeat them until they tried. He knew he’d gotten through to Arthur when the Prince picked up the bowl and started eating.

He knew they needed to act soon, before Morgause slaughtered everyone without magic in Camelot. There were too many patrols for Merlin to be able to sneak to Camelot to converse with Morgana. He just needed to be next to the wall, but even getting that far had proved impossible so far. So he asked Gaius how the previous immortal army had been defeated. “The Cup of Life needed to be emptied of the blood it held. After that had happened, the enchantment was broken,” the old physician told him. Merlin determined that’s what he’d have to do.

When he had a free moment, Merlin went to his pack to see if he still had the vial of water he’d received from the Fisher King. He’d remembered what the old sorcerer told him, “’ _In Camelot's darkest hour, when all seems lost, it will show you the way_.’” After everyone went to bed, he rose and walked a short distance further into the cave. He tried spell after spell to reveal what the water had to tell him, but he eventually tired and fell asleep with it in his hand.

Later on, he was startled awake when Gwaine passed by him. He reflexively dropped the vial, which shattered below him. The water trickled downward and Merlin nearly cried in despair. He stared down at the spilled water, and suddenly a familiar face appeared. _Freya_. After he recovered from his surprise, she told him that this was the moment she’d repay him. She explained that there was a weapon that could slay the immortal soldiers of Morgause’s army; the sword he’d created and thrown into the Lake of Avalon. If he came to the lake, she would give it to him, to aid in taking back Camelot.

Merlin determined to leave right then to retrieve the sword. He crept quietly from the cave and made his way to a nearby clearing. He called Kilgharrah and asked the dragon to carry him twenty leagues to the lake—twenty leagues crawling with immortal soldiers. The dragon initially objected, but relented and made Merlin promise to again place the sword where no one could wield it.

After he’d gotten the sword, Merlin had an idea. He asked Kilgharrah to drop him off at the clearing they usually met in near Camelot. He’d remembered a spell that would divert the guards’ attention from him, so he could sneak close enough to Camelot to talk to Morgana. The dragon grumbled again, but did as Merlin wished. But that didn’t stop him from questioning Merlin en route.

“ _Merlin, why are you doing this? Why is the witch still alive?_ ” he asked.

“ _Did you feel something magically unusual a few months ago?_ ” Merlin replied.

“ _There_ was _something odd, but such things are not uncommon_.”

“ _I was told I’d shifted destiny onto a new course_.” Merlin could “hear” the dragon’s stunned silence.

Kilgharrah was so surprised he paused in his wing flapping. But just as they began to sink, he resumed it. “ _That is . . . not what I expected to hear, young warlock_.”

“ _Obviously. Morgause enchanted Morgana’s bracelet to slowly influence her heart to see good as evil. Once I told Morgana, she wanted to be freed from it. I found a spell to do it then took her to the Lake of Avalon and healed her_.”

“ _You believe she’s no longer evil_.”

“ _She’s not! She’s already helped me save Camelot_ numerous _times. Her heart has become good again_.”

Kilgharrah was silent for a moment, before slyly saying, “ _It seems like your heart has changed too_.”

“ _What’s that supposed to mean?_ ”

“ _You seem very protective of her. And overly defensive just now_.”

“ _What?!_ No _. No way_.”

“ _You can deny it, but that will not change the truth. I shall look into the stars to find this ‘shift.’ If you are right about her, then I need to know what has changed. I will tell you what I find_.”

They were silent for the remainder of the trip, which didn’t last long. Kilgharrah landed in the familiar clearing and they said their goodbyes. After the dragon left, Merlin cast the spell over himself and began creeping toward Camelot. The guards he saw didn’t notice him. When he got to the wall, he hid behind some convenient shrubbery. It was getting close to dawn, so hopefully Morgana wouldn’t mind waking a little early. “ _Morgana, Morgana. Wake up_.”

“ _M-Merlin?_ ” she asked sleepily, then seemed to startle herself awake. “ _Merlin! It’s you!_ ” She sounded relieved and overjoyed.

“ _Morgana, how are you?_ ”

“ _Oh Merlin, it’s been awful! I delayed taking the throne as long as I could, but finally had to. Morgause—she’s done the worst things, killing innocent people, throwing the King and those loyal to him in the dungeon_ . . .”

“ _That . . . is terrible! I’m sorry I haven’t been here to help you. There are so many soldiers in the woods, it’s been nearly impossible to even get close_.”

“ _I understand. Oh, Gwen and I plotted to get a few knights released, but I think she only got Sir Leon out. They fled into the woods. I think Leon knows where you’re hiding_.”

“ _That’s good. We need all the help we can get, thank you_.” He paused for a moment. “ _Morgana, I think I should tell Arthur what we were planning to tell him. He’s very down right now and the truth may help give him purpose. I’ll leave out the magic, of course_.”

“ _If you feel that’s best, then go ahead. When do you think you will be ready to take back Camelot?_ ”

“ _Very soon. We’re waiting for Lancelot to come, but we may have no choice but to move before he does. Oh, I found a weapon that will kill the immortals, and I know how to defeat the lot—I have to empty the Cup of the blood within it_.”

“ _Morgause has the cup locked in the council room. It’s guarded by several of the immortals. It’ll be difficult to get in there, but we can manage it with that weapon of yours_.”

“ _No. There is no ‘we’ in this plan. Just me. It’s too_ —”

“ _If you say ‘it’s too dangerous,’ I’m going to smack you!_ ”

“ _Then you’ll have to smack me, because it_ is _too dangerous. I can’t have you put yourself at risk like that._ ”

“ _I put my life at risk every day, just by being alive. You_ will _tell me when you come back, and I_ will _find you and help you with the Cup. I’m calling in that favor on this_.”

He gritted his teeth. “ _Fine. It’s getting close to dawn. The spell I’m using to keep myself concealed isn’t as effective in daylight, so I need to go_.”

“ _All right_.” He heard her sigh through their connection. “ _Be careful. Help Arthur. Come back to me_.”

“ _I will. Goodbye_.”

“ _Goodbye_ . . .” Her voice faded as he moved further away from the wall. The sun peeked over the horizon, so he quickened his steps a bit more. Unfortunately he didn’t see the guard on the ramparts that spotted him and alerted another to make haste and follow the fleeing servant.


	13. Chapter 13

Merlin reached the cave and found that Gwen and Leon had arrived. Arthur was up and around talking with the new arrivals. When he saw Merlin come in, he came over. “You seem better,” Merlin commented.

“You're incompetent at many things, Merlin. Well, most things, in fact. But once in a while, quite by accident, you say something helpful,” Arthur replied.

“Really?”

“Yesterday, amid all your nonsense, you said something that, if I didn't know you, I'd be utterly fooled into thinking you were . . .”

“What?”

“Wise.”

“Nah.”

Further talk was halted when Elyan ran in, telling all present that they’d been found and soldiers were almost upon them. _Damn, I led them here_ , Merlin thought. Everyone grabbed their things and ran. Gaius tried to convince Merlin to leave him behind, but Merlin wouldn’t hear of it.

They ran after the others and found them in a narrow trench with high walls, blocked on one end by immortal soldiers. Just then they heard someone yell, “Look out!” Boulders fell from the top of one of the walls, blocking the enemies. Arthur’s group quickly ran back the way they came, and found Lancelot, accompanied by a giant of a man.

The big guy’s name was Percival. He’d been with Lancelot when he’d gotten Merlin’s letter, so he decided to join the cause. His family had been killed in Morgause’s pursuit of Camelot. Arthur welcomed the two new men, and led the way to a new hideout.

Their new place turned out to be a ruined, abandoned castle. Arthur announced that it had belonged to the ancient kings of Camelot. He asked the group of warriors to look for anything that could be of use. Meanwhile, Arthur wandered toward a circular table covered in a cloth. The men returned, mostly with weapons. Then Arthur invited everyone to have a seat at the table.

Merlin looked at everyone sitting at the table. A prince, a maidservant, an old physician, a mercenary knight, an unlucky blacksmith, a courageous knight, a drunken rogue, a strong warrior, and _him_. The secret warlock protector. No one would expect this random collection of people to succeed at _anything_ , let alone reclaiming a kingdom. But he had a feeling that it would work. They’d retake Camelot, rescue the king and defeat the evil sorceress.  It _had_ to work. Destiny _demanded_ it.

Arthur made a fine speech how a round table promoted equality, and without everyone at the table, none of them would be there. He asked if anyone there would help him rescue his father. One by one, those at the table stood and declared their intent to help the Prince. When his turn came, Merlin had decided the atmosphere had gotten too serious. Arthur finally had to ask, “Merlin?”

“No, I don't really fancy it,” he replied.

“You don't have a choice, Merlin.”

“Okay.” He smiled and noticed most everyone else was too. _Mission accomplished_.

Arthur thanked everyone, then proceeded to knight Gwaine, Lancelot, Elyan, and Percival. Merlin thought it was very generous of Arthur to acknowledge their aid in this manner. Uther wouldn’t like it, but he’s have no choice but to accept them. It was especially wonderful for Lancelot—he’d finally realized his lifelong goal.

After the impromptu knighting ceremony, everyone went in different directions to do what they could to prepare for the next day. Arthur went to the part of the room where he'd left his things. Merlin followed him; this would probably be the last time they could talk privately before the battle. Arthur sat on the floor and began sharpening his sword.

“Arthur,” Merlin began.

“Yes Merlin?” He paused in his sharpening to look up at his servant.

“Can I talk to you about something? It's kind of important.”

“All right. Have a seat.”

Merlin sat perpendicular to the sword, to avoid interfering with the sharpening. “It's about Morgana. Morgause is her half sister.”

“ _What?!_ So she was part of this . . . this . . .”

“No, actually. Hear me out. Back when that sleeping sickness happened, Morgause didn't kidnap Morgana. Morgana went willingly. She felt like she'd been betrayed, so when Morgause sympathized with her, she went with her. Her 'rescue' was staged to look like she'd been through a difficult year. But she was with Morgause the whole time, and Morgause won her over to her anti-Uther side. She came back here intending to destroy your father and Camelot.”

“Again, _what?!_ She's been lying to us this whole time? What about—”

“Hold on. I wasn't done yet. Morgana only felt that way until she fell down the stairs. Being hurt like that made her realize who her true family and friends were. I’ve been talking with her, to keep her with _us_. Arthur, she doesn't want to hurt any of us or Camelot anymore.

“Before she turned again, she'd been spying for Morgause. After she was hurt, she still met with Morgause, but _failed_ the missions she gave her _on purpose_. What she couldn't do alone, she told me about, and we 'handled' things together. You heard Morgause say she was going to make Morgana queen?”

“I did wonder about that. There's no way—”

“Actually, it turns out that Morgana is Uther's daughter. _Your_ half-sister—”

“ _WHAT!?_ ” Arthur yelled this so loud that everyone turned to look at him.

“Arthur, try to calm down, please?” Arthur took a few deep breaths and started sharpening rather vigorously. “Okay, good. She has the same mother as Morgause and the same father as you. I know she has no legal claim to the throne. So does she. She doesn't _want_ to be queen. Morgause kind of forced it on her; she still thinks Morgana is on her side because Morgana's been _acting_.”

“Okay. Let me see if I understood all that. Morgana was in league with Morgause and helped her put that sleeping sickness on Camelot—”

“Actually, I found out that she was the source of the sleeping spell. Morgause used her without telling her about it. So she was innocent except she wanted to kill Uther— _don't_ say 'what' again; let me explain. She was angry with him for reasons I can't explain. But she wanted to hurt only him, _not_ everyone. And here's the really awful part- please don't yell at me -the only way to rid Camelot of the sickness was to kill her. So I poisoned her.”

“ _!!!_ ”

“Hear me out. Morgause came along before Morgana died. She said if she knew what the poison was, she could save her. So I made her release the spell on the enchanted knights before I told her what poison. That's the worst decision I've ever had to make. Save Morgana or save Camelot. So I was relieved when we found her alive.”

“You used her life to bargain with Morgause? I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted. And _poison_?”

“It's what I thought of at the time, so I went with it. I had nightmares about it for a long time. Still do, once in a while. I hated myself as much as she hated me.”

“She hated you?”

“Because I discovered she was plotting with Morgause, and, yeah, the poison.”

“She never said anything to me or Father. She could have had you killed.”

“Yeah, but I knew _her_ secret too. So we kept each other in check.”

“All right. So Morgause took her away, convinced her to hate my Father and Camelot, and sent her back to spy for her and undermine us.”

“Yep.”

“Then she had her accident, came to regret her actions, turned her back on her sister, and is helping us now.”

“Yep.”

“Is that all? Really? And don't say 'yep.' I can't stand that word.”

“Ye-s. That's it.”

“Okay, now my head is spinning. Let's get some rest now, while we can. We can talk more when this is all over.”

“Agreed. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

When they laid out their bedrolls for the night, Lancelot placed his near Merlin’s. Merlin congratulated him, but Lancelot brushed it off to ask Merlin a question. It seemed he’d figured out that Merlin had a plan aside from Arthur’s. Merlin told him about emptying the Cup of Life. Lancelot warned him about the immortal men, and even though Merlin had magic, he _wasn’t_ immortal. Seeing that Merlin wasn’t going to bend on this, he finally proclaimed, “You know, Merlin, you're the one Arthur should knight. You're the bravest of us all and he doesn't even know it.” He decided to do what he could to assist Merlin.

In the morning, Arthur explained the details of his plan. When he told them they couldn’t let the enemy raise the alarm, Lancelot spoke up. He said he’d take out the warning bell, but needed help to find it. When he looked pointedly at Merlin, the young man volunteered himself. Arthur asked Gwen to stay at the castle to help Gaius prepare for the inevitable casualties. After a short conversation with Gaius, Merlin and the knights left for Camelot.

xxxXxxx

In Camelot’s throne room, Morgana sat on her unwanted throne, feeling anger and terror simultaneously. When Morgause had discovered that Leon was missing, she was furious. She concluded that the knights’ resistance gave the people hope, so she had to crush that hope. Morgause ordered a gallows be constructed that evening so the remaining knights could be hanged. She determined _that_ would get the people to accept Morgana’s rule.

Morgana had no choice but to submit to the plan, pretending she was in favor of it. She was actually sickened at it, and wondered how she could have ever agreed to help Morgause. _The bracelet_. If there was ever a time for her to appreciate what Merlin had done for her, it was now. She’d never be able to thank him enough for that act of supreme kindness. _And love_ , she realized. She had to be strong for him. To be ready for when he came and called on her.

So she sat there in her unwanted throne, her bejeweled, unwanted crown atop her head, steeling herself for the time when she was needed. When she could once again redeem herself for the wrongs she’d committed against Camelot and its people. When she could help the men she loved return the kingdom to its rightful monarch.

xxxXxxx

Hours later, Arthur’s small group reached Camelot. They snuck carefully through the passage to the dungeon. Once there, Merlin and Lancelot dashed upstairs to find the Cup while Arthur and the rest of the knights continued on through the dungeon to find the King and liberate the rest of Camelot’s army.

As he climbed the stairs, Merlin contacted Morgana with a thought, “ _Morgana? We’re here_.”

“ _Where are you?_ ” he heard back.

“ _On the floor with the council chambers. Lancelot and I are in the corridor_ —” He broke off to gasp, mentally and out loud.

“ _What was that?_ ” Morgana asked.

Since Lancelot gave him a questioning look, he answered both out loud and mentally, “ _I can sense the Cup’s power_.” To just Lancelot he said, “This way,” and they turned down another corridor.

“ _I’m on my way_ ,” Morgana replied. She was back in her chambers, so she removed her crown and tossed it on her bed in disgust. Then she reached under the bed for the sword she kept there. With it in hand, she left her chambers and ran off towards the council chambers.

While she did that, Merlin and Lancelot ran into a few immortal soldiers. The first one Merlin fought and stabbed exploded in a flash of dark magic bits. When Lancelot asked what the sword was, Merlin simply responded, “It was forged in a dragon’s breath.” On their way down the corridors, they quickly developed a rhythm: Lancelot engaged the soldier first and wore him down, then Merlin would strike him with Excalibur and end him.

They finally reached the corridor around the corner from the council chambers. A few seconds later, they heard footsteps. Swords at the ready, they turned around to find Morgana. Merlin relaxed and explained her presence to Lancelot. The knight relaxed and all three peeked around the corner to see multiple guards at the door. They looked at each other, shrugged and ran forward to attack the guards.

Once all the guards had exploded, Merlin, Lancelot and Morgana opened the doors, rushed in and locked the door behind them. Then they turned around and saw the guards arrayed in front of the Cup. They looked at each other again, blew out sighs, and ran forward to engage the immortal soldiers again.

 As he ran, Merlin briefly wondered how Arthur was doing. Hopefully he’d found his father and freed the rest of the knights by now. They’d be a lot of help, but unless he could get to the Cup, their odds weren’t good. Lancelot was injured at one point, but kept fighting. Slowly but surely Lancelot and Morgana wore down the guards and Merlin vanquished them with Excalibur.

Merlin approached the Cup of Life cautiously, and the sounds of fighting faded into the background. He dodged another undead guard and swung the sword backwards to end him. His feet moved quicker, and once within striking distance, he raised Excalibur. As he swung it down, it felt as if time was slowing down. Then it connected, and the Cup flew from its pedestal, pouring the cursed blood from it. Almost immediately, he heard explosions behind him as Morgana’s and Lancelot’s swords pierced their opponents. He turned around to watch as they finished off the remaining guards.

When the last one was gone, Lancelot leaned against a pillar and slowly sunk to the floor, clutching his arm. Morgana made to come help him, but he waved her off. So she turned to face Merlin, a big smile coming across her face; his matched. She ran to him, dropping her sword on the way.

As she reached him, she threw her arms around his neck, drawing his head to her shoulder. His free arm went around her waist. “We did it,” she whispered.

“I know,” he replied, and his arm around her squeezed her a little closer. It felt amazing to be together again, after the fighting, the separation.

She brought her head back a little so she could reach his cheek, to kiss it. But just as she darted in to do that, he moved his head so her lips touched his instead. They paused like that, eyes open and staring at each other in surprise. Their hearts beating wildly, they broke apart and just looked at each other. As they tried to catch their breath, Morgana managed to say, “So sor—”

“Don’t,” he cut her off, and immediately leaned his head down to recapture her lips with his. _And oh, what a feeling! Why was I pushing her away again?_ The sword slipped from his hand, and he brought both up to cradle her face. Her arms went under his and up his back. It felt so good, so right. They started thinking as one. “ _I’ve_ . . .”

“. . . _wanted_ . . .”

“. . . _to do this_ . . .”

“. . . _for so_ . . .”

“. . . _long_.” His hands slid down her sides to rest on either side of her waist. Hers slid around to his chest then up to the back of his neck to play with his hair. He moaned, opening his mouth, so Morgana slid her tongue in. He moaned again, but couldn’t find it in him to be embarrassed; instead he used his grasp on her waist to pull her a little closer. She shivered in sheer delight when his tongue started to dance with hers. They thought together again, “ _I . . . love . . . you_.”


	14. Chapter 14

And that was how Morgause found them when she ran into the room. Lancelot tried to stand, but she yelled, “ _Hleap on bæc!_ ” Lancelot fell backwards, hit his head and lost consciousness. She turned towards her sister and yelled, “Sister, what are you doing?!”

At her words, Merlin and Morgana separated and stared at Morgause in shock. Merlin stepped in front of Morgana and raised his hand, preparing to defend her. “Leave her alone Morgause.”

“Why you filthy . . . get away from her!” She looked around the pair to see the Cup on the floor, empty. “What have you done?!” she shrieked. Her eyes flashed gold as she yelled, “ _Forþ fleoge!_ ” Merlin flew back, hitting the wall with great force, and slid down it to the floor.

“Merlin!” Morgana screamed, and ran over to him. His pulse was strong and his breathing was steady; he was just unconscious. She turned and walked toward her sister. “How _dare_ you! You leave him _alone_!” Her eyes flared gold for a second. Behind her, unnoticed by everyone, Uther crept into the room via the servants’ entrance. He poked his head around the corner of the wall.

Morgause backpedaled a bit. “Morgana, don’t you see what he’s done? The Cup is _empty_! All my soldiers are vulnerable now!”

“Good,” Morgana snarled.

“Morgana?” Morgause said, shocked at her sister’s tone.

“Morgause. I _never_ wanted the crown. I _never_ wanted to take over and rule Camelot. I _don’t_ want to hurt my family and friends. And I _hate_ that you’ve killed innocent people in my name!”

Morgause stared at her in surprise for a moment, her mouth hanging open. Then her eyes hardened and her mouth twisted into a sneer. “I see, _Sister_. Tell me, what brought about your change of heart? Was it that dirty peasant over there?”

“He helped, but it was really _your_ actions that brought it about.”

“What do you mean?” Morgause’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“The bracelet _you_ gave me to help me sleep—there was another enchantment buried under it. One that forced me to think and see everything and everyone as wrong, evil, malicious—pick a word. You _controlled_ me. And I _hate_ being controlled!”

“How did you . . . Never mind. I sheltered you, I nurtured you, _and_ I taught you how to harness your magic. And _this_ is how you repay me? By betraying me to those who _rejected_ you?”

“It was _you_ who betrayed _me_! You’re my _sister_ , and you _controlled_ me! If you don’t stand down and leave now, I _will_ hurt you.”

“You couldn’t possibly hurt me. I am still stronger than you.”

“Want to test that? I’ve been studying. _Oferswing!_ ” To Morgause’s shock, she found herself flying backwards. She hit the wall and slid down it, passing out just like Merlin had.

“There’s a lot of that going around today, isn’t there?” sad a voice behind her, and she whirled around, ready to repeat her spell. But it was just Merlin, who had recovered and was sitting up, rubbing the back of his head.

“Merlin! You—” she was cut off as another voice interrupted her.

“You have magic?!” the voice was weak and shocked to the core. Merlin and Morgana turned their heads at the sound and saw Uther. He stood there, looking shocked and scared beyond belief. He pointed at Morgana and repeated, “You have magic!”

Morgana rushed towards Uther. “Sire, it’s not what you think! I—”

“I know what I saw,” he interrupted, his voice much stronger. “You have magic! A child of mine has magic! How did this happen? It can’t be possible . . .”

Merlin and Morgana watched Uther mutter to himself, trying to talk himself out of this new information. He stomped on the floor and pulled at his hair. When he went to bang his head on the wall, Morgana grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

“Don’t touch me!” He yelled, and turned around to look at her. “You! You . . . stay away from me! I’ve got to get away, got to run . . .” and with that, he ran out through the servant’s entrance, the other two staring in shock.

Merlin pulled his attention away long enough to notice Morgause trying to stand up. She raised her arm threateningly, but Merlin yelled “ _Hleap on bæc!_ ” The sorceress went flying again. This time her head hit first, with a sickening _crunch_. She didn’t get up.

Morgana yelled, “Morgause!” and ran to her sister. She was breathing a bit shallower than normal, and her heartbeat seemed sluggish. “Morgause?” Morgana lightly patted her face, but she didn’t respond. “Morgause!” she said a little louder. Still no response. Morgana placed her hands on her sister’s shoulders, and made to shake her. She felt hands on _her_ shoulders and stopped. Looking up and behind her, she saw Merlin shaking his head.

“She was going to hurt you.” Morgana sighed and nodded. “Don’t shake her. Don’t move her at all. She hit her head pretty hard and may be concussed. Or worse.” He frowned. “I remember _one_ thing Gaius told me—don’t move someone with a head injury until you know what it is.”

Merlin sat down next to Morgana and held her hand. His other arm went around her back comfortingly. Lancelot woke not too long later and meandered over. After a short conversation, Lancelot slipped out of the room. He wasn't gone long; when he came back, Gaius was behind him. He smiled sheepishly at the pair on the floor and eased himself down to check on Morgause. “I followed you here,” he said in response to Merlin's unasked question.

Gaius silently checked Morgause over, checking her pulse, her breathing, her head, and her body position. While he did this, Merlin walked to the back of the room and picked up the Cup. Gaius asked Merlin and Morgana a few questions about what had happened. Finally, he came to a conclusion.

“She has a severe concussion. We can move her, but she needs to be carried on a litter so her head and neck aren't jostled much.”

Merlin ran off to the nearest linen closet and came back with several blankets and a couple of brooms. He and Lancelot fashioned a litter and carefully moved Morgause onto it. They gently crammed another blanket around her head and neck. When they finished, the two younger men slowly picked up the litter and carried it to the physician's chambers.

Morgause was placed on the patients' bed. Merlin removed the brooms and helped settle her there. Morgana sat in a chair next to the bed. She brushed back Morgause's hair with one hand and took her sister's hand with the other. “I'm so sorry sister.”

Merlin glanced at her then turned to Lancelot. “Would you mind seeing how the others are faring? I'd go, but . . .” He gestured at Morgana; thankfully Lancelot understood. He nodded and headed out of the room. Merlin pulled another chair over to sit by Morgana and put his arm around her again. It was an innocent enough gesture; Gaius wouldn't misinterpret it.

The physician walked around his room, gathering various potions and herbs. He also picked up a few books. All of that ended up on a table, where he opened a book to research Morgause's condition.

Morgana looked up at Gaius. “When will she wake?”

Gaius's head whipped up. He'd been so immersed in his reading that he'd forgotten anyone else was in the room. “Ah, at this point, I'm not sure.”

Morgana's face fell. Gaius usually had all the answers, but this time he didn't, and it frightened her. “Oh,” she said in a small voice.

Gaius saw the look on her face. “I need to do more research, but I think it's somewhat like the injury you sustained when you fell down the stairs. She could be in that coma indefinitely.”

At that, Morgana turned to face Merlin. Her head fell to his shoulder and her arms around his neck. When she started sobbing, he hesitantly put his arms around her. “ _I'm so sorry Morgana, I shouldn't have thrown her_ . . .” he thought to her.

“ _I did too_ ,” she replied, her mental voice reflecting her sorrow.

He tightened his hold on her. “ _I just wish we hadn't had to do that. She loved you; maybe you could have talked her 'round_.”

Morgana shook as she sobbed; Gaius noticed this and said, “Merlin, why don't you take her back to your room? Maybe she'll calm down if she's not . . .”

“I've got it, Gaius. Thanks.” He gave his mentor a small smile, and helped Morgana stand. Then he put his arm around her back and conducted her up the stairs to his room. Once there, he helped her sit on his bed.

Morgana continued quietly sobbing. Merlin reached out again and drew her to him, leaving his arms around her. He murmured soft, comforting words to her—words of love, strength, hope for the future. She finally calmed; listening to his heartbeat soothed her. “Thank you,” she said, pulling back a little to look up at him.

“For what?” He asked, genuinely puzzled.

“For staying with me, letting me soak your shirt . . .” She broke off, giving a watery chuckle.

“No payment necessary. Shirt soaking free with all comforting,” he joked.

She looked up at him in disbelief, then started laughing hysterically. He joined in and they reveled in the insanity of it all for a few moments. “I needed that,” she said.

They looked at each other for a long moment, and then he said, “I think you need this too.” And with that, he lifted her chin and pulled her lips to his.

She sighed into the kiss and lifted her hands to the back of his neck. He responded by placing an arm around her back and pulling her slightly closer. His other hand stroked her hair, _silky soft_. When they broke apart, they rested their foreheads together and began breathing again.

Gaius chose that moment to enter the room. His mouth fell open when he saw the couple on the bed. When he regained his wits, he spoke. “Merlin, can I talk to you in the other room?” He asked in a strangled voice.

The man in question looked up. “Sure,” he replied, and stood up. He looked down at Morgana. “Are you tired?” She nodded. “Lie down and rest. It'll probably be the last peaceful moment you have for a while.”

“Thank you Merlin,” she replied. She lay down and he drew the thin blanket over her. Then he followed Gaius out the door and into the main chamber.

Gaius turned to face Merlin. “What do you think you're doing?” He asked quietly.

“About what?” Merlin replied.

“You and Morgana. In there.” He indicated Merlin's room.

“Um. We're friends. Her sister was just hurt badly and may die. I was comforting her.”

“You looked a little too . . . intimate to be comforting her.”

“Hugs are a perfectly innocent and acceptable way to offer comfort.”

“True. But you weren't just hugging, were you?”

“Gaius! You saw?”

“It's not like either of you were paying attention to anyone else.”

“Oh fine. Ever since I freed her from Morgause's spell, we've been spending more time together, teaching each other magic. We've gotten closer and closer, and . . . it just kind of happened.”

“'It?'”

“You know what I mean, are you really gonna make me say it?” Merlin's face went red while Gaius just smirked—it looked wrong on his face. “Okay fine. We fell in love. Happy now?”

“No. Maybe if it was any other girl, but _Morgana_? What are you _thinking_? Do you _want_ your head removed?”

“Gaius, how stupid you think I am?” Gaius opened his mouth to respond, but Merlin cut him off first. “Don't answer that! Of course I don't want my head removed. But this . . . kissing thing is new as of today. We haven't even had a chance to talk about it yet.”

“Oh. Well, you already know what I think about it. When you do get a chance to talk it over, please use your head— the one that thinks.” He poked the side of Merlin's skull for emphasis.

“ _Gaius!_ ” Merlin protested, flushing again. “I wouldn—”

At that moment, the door to the corridor banged open, startling Merlin and Gaius. Arthur stepped in, and uttered, “Where have you been?” the same time as Merlin did. Gaius had to hold back a chuckle. Arthur and Merlin looked at each other a moment before they gestured for the other to continue. “How are you?” They asked at the same time, again. Finally Merlin just clapped a hand over his mouth and nodded at the Prince.

“Have you seen Morgana?” Arthur asked.

“Yes, she's in my room, resting. Lancelot didn't tell you?” Merlin replied, after taking his hand off his mouth.

“No, he just told me about Morgause . . .” He stopped speaking when his eyes landed on the unconscious sorceress. “Oh.” He turned to Gaius, “What's her status?”

“Sire, she's in a coma. Her injury is somewhat like what Morgana went through a few months ago, though I can't be sure. She could wake up tomorrow, or never.”

“Do we know what happened to her?”

“Merlin was there.”

“Merlin?”

“Y-Yes. Lancelot and I went to find the Cup of Life. Gaius told me if the blood in it was emptied, the immortal soldiers could be killed again. So we went for it, and ran into Morgana. She told us where it was. After we fought the guards, I knocked the Cup over. Morgause came in and Morgana and I fought her. We managed to hit her head against the wall to knock her out, but we didn't know this would happen.”

Arthur just stared at Merlin like he didn't believe a word of it. “ _You_ and _Morgana_ did this to her? I didn't think either of you were capable of something like that.”

“Yes, _we_ did it. And Lancelot was injured; he should be here.”

“Don't try to divert me, _Mer_ lin. What's the rest of the story?”

“Oh. Well your father wandered in and watched us. He acted really afraid of Morgana after that then ran off. I don't know why. After that, Lancelot woke up and ran to find help. He ran into Gaius and brought him into the room. Gaius checked over Morgause, I ran and found stuff to make a litter and we carried her here. Morgana was upset, so she went into my room to rest. That's all.”

“All right. Things make better sense now.” When he saw Merlin's puzzled look, he explained further. “When we went in the dungeon, we freed all the knights and I searched for my father. I found him, but had to go fight those immortals. When I went back to check on him, he was gone. He must have wandered up there.”

“Ah,” Merlin replied.

“I went looking for him after we killed all the immortals. I found him in his chambers. He was sitting on his bed, muttering about 'Morgana' and 'magic.' I couldn't understand most of it.” He looked over to Gaius. “He may need your assistance, Gaius.”

“I'll get my things together,” Gaius replied. But before he finished, Lancelot came into the room, finally remembering he was injured.

“So that's all that happened to you, huh?” Merlin asked Arthur.

“Yeah, that's basically it. Elyan was hurt, but most everyone I was with is fine. Minor wounds. In fact, they'll probably start trickling in here soon.”

That statement proved prophetic; not long after Arthur said it, more wounded came into the physician's chambers. Arthur excused Merlin from his duties for the rest of the day so he could help Gaius treat the new patients. They all looked apprehensively at Morgause and gave her a wide berth. Gaius and Merlin eventually swapped Gaius's bed with hers so she was behind the screen. Something would have to be done with her eventually.


	15. Chapter 15

Since Uther couldn’t be persuaded to leave his room, Arthur had to handle the fallout from Morgause’s takeover. Most people in Camelot were unhurt, except for the citizens Morgause’s men fired on. Arthur determined that the victims’ families would receive reparations. There were many other unpleasant tasks to be handled, and Arthur wanted none of it.

Gaius didn’t make it to the King’s chambers until evening. He examined Uther as well as he could, given that the King didn’t want to be touched. Gaius had to make an educated guess through the answers Uther gave to his questions. From what he heard, it seemed that Uther had witnessed Morgana do something very unexpected. And it probably had something to do with magic. He gave the King something to relax him and help him sleep. His captivity and whatever he had seen affected him mentally, and it would take a while for him to recover, if at all.

Merlin found Arthur sitting on the castle’s front steps. He looked worn out, but hopeful and even made a crack about his boots needing cleaning. That led to banter about equality and the round table, eventually earning the servant a “Shut up, Merlin,” and a friendly shove.

Merlin decided to risk asking, “How's your father?”

“I don't know. All this. Morgause. It's affected him badly,” Arthur replied.

“Maybe we're heading for a new age. You may have to take control, become . . . become King.”

“Who knows what the future holds?” Gwen, accompanied by the newest knights, arrived in the square at that moment. Arthur went over to her, ending the conversation.

Merlin got up and decided to return to Gaius’s chambers to check on Morgana. She had slept for a very long time. He stopped by the kitchen to get her a tray of food for dinner. When he arrived, he found Morgana sitting at a table with Gaius, laughing at something the old man had just said. She turned to give him a glorious smile and Merlin nearly melted. He somehow managed to walk over to the table and set down the tray.

“Merlin!” she said, then looked down at the tray. “I can’t possibly eat all this. You two must share with me.”

“Oh no, My Lady. I couldn’t possibly. Besides, my dinner is nearly done cooking over on the fire,” Gaius replied. He got up and walked to the pot, boiling merrily in the fireplace.

“Merlin?” she asked coyly, and patted the bench next to her.

“All right,” he replied, “you talked me into it. I _did_ get enough for Arthur, didn’t I? Guess I wasn’t thinking.” He sat down and they began eating, Gaius joining them with his stew a little later.

They talked about what had happened while she was asleep. Merlin told her all about Arthur—how he’d made new knights, battled the undead warriors and rescued the King. They told Gaius the truth about what happened to Morgause and what the King had done when he’d turned up in the throne room.

“Well that explains a lot,” Gaius said.

“What do you mean?” Morgana asked.

“Arthur was here several hours ago. He told us he’d found his father in his chambers, muttering something about you and magic. When I visited him a short while ago, he was still muttering about you and wouldn’t let me or Arthur touch him. I fear his mind may be permanently affected by what he witnessed.”

Morgana took a deep breath. “Morgause told me that she tortured him too. She wouldn’t let me near him alone, so I could do nothing for him. I hated him, but I can’t hate him after what she did to him.” She looked to be near tears again, so Merlin put his arm around her again.

“Torture. I suspected as much. I’ll have to knock him out so I can examine his body thoroughly.” Gaius reached out a hand to touch hers. “Morgana, it’s not your fault. I understand what you had to do and why. Truthfully, I’m astonished Uther hasn’t broken down before this.” He stood. “I’d better go see to him right now. If he has wounds, they’ll need treating as quickly as possible. Morgana, why don’t you finish your dinner and Merlin can walk you to your chambers. You got a lot of rest today, but you’ll need more.”

Morgana nodded. Merlin helped her up, and together they walked to her chambers. Once inside, Morgana and Merlin sat on the edge of her bed and fell backwards. He reached his hand out and took hers, rubbing circles on the back of it with his thumb. “How are you _really_ feeling?” he asked.

“Not tired,” she replied.

“Okay . . . maybe we should talk about—”

“The sudden change in our relationship?”

“Yeah. That was . . .”

“. . . Amazing? Perfect? Surprising?”

“All that.” He rolled onto his side and stroked her face with his hand. “What was I afraid of again?”

“Losing your head.”

“I think it’s too late for that.”

She giggled and blushed. “You know what I meant.”

“Yeah . . . I know,” he sighed. “I just wish we didn’t have to hide.”

“Maybe Arthur and Gwen could give us tips.”

“Yeah, maybe they could, at that.” They both started laughing for a few moments. He reached out his hand to take hers, and stared into her jade-green eyes, “I love you. There, I said it out loud.”

She smirked and stared back into his sapphire-blue eyes. “I _knew_ it!” she crowed, then her voice gentled, “Even before you said it earlier.”

He leaned forward and gave her a chaste kiss. “Yeah, I’m an idiot.”

“Yes you are!” She gave him a quick kiss. “But you were right before, we still have to be careful. All that’s really changed is that we’ve confirmed and acted upon our feelings.”

He sat up. “Yeah. I don’t like having to keep another secret, but . . .”

“Merlin.” She sat up and took his face in her hands. “You love me.”

“Yes.”

“And I love you.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Isn’t that all that really matters?”

“I suppose it is.”

“Then kiss me.” They leaned closer to each other, touching at their lips. His arm snaked around her to pull her closer, which deepened the kiss. Gradually his other arm wound around her, and hers went to his face. When she pressed herself closer still, she knocked them both off balance. He fell on his back with her partially on top of him.

That action jolted their lips apart, and they looked at each other in surprise. Then, for no reason at all, they started laughing. They both sat up, cross-legged, still laughing. “Ooops,” Morgana said, blushing furiously.

“I didn’t mind,” he replied, flashing her his sweetest smile. He put the back of his hand to her cheek and brushed a wayward lock of her hair behind her ear. In the same motion, he brought his hand behind her jaw and brought her face up to his. Their lips met again, flooding them both with a warm, tingly feeling. When they broke, he asked gently, “Are you feeling tired yet?”

“No. How about you?”

“Yeah. Strangely enough it’s been a very physically _and_ emotionally exhausting day. I didn’t get a nap like _some_ people did,” he teased, winking at her.

“Aw, is the all-powerful warlock tired?” she teased back.

“Yeah,” he replied, before his hands suddenly shot forward to her sides to tickle her mercilessly.

She writhed this way and that, but couldn’t get away from his hands. They both laughed as she finally fell onto her back, breathing hard. When he released her, she grabbed his sides and threw him to the bed next to her. Then she sat up and looked down at him. “Stay with me,” she said.

He gazed at her, mouth open in shock, “B-but . . .”

She giggled. “I’m not suggesting what you think. I don’t think either of us are ready for _that_.” They both blushed. “What I mean is, sleep here on my bed. I’ll just sit in a chair to the side.”

“But it’s _your_ bed—”

“ _Yes_ , and I’m _not_ tired. You sleep. If I get tired I’ll just lean onto the bed.”

“But if I’m found here—”

“I’m guessing you wake before dawn?” He nodded. “That won’t change because you’re in a different bed. You’ll have time to leave before Gwen gets here.” She brushed his hair back from his face while he yawned. “Rest, my love.” She helped him remove his boots and drew the comforter over him.

“Thank you, Morgana,” Merlin said before he let his eyes flutter closed. She brought a chair over to the side of the bed. Leaning over him, she gently kissed his forehead, then his lips. She brushed her hand through his hair again before settling into the chair. Reaching out her hand, she took his and snuffed all the candles, save one. She traced patterns on the back of his hand with her thumb and settled down to watch him until she fell asleep.

xxxXxxx

Merlin woke up, feeling extremely comfortable. He enjoyed the sensation for a moment before realizing he shouldn’t be _that_ comfortable. His eyes flew open to see a strange but familiar canopy and curtains. There was a presence next to him—Morgana lay there, on top of the covers, but holding his hand. He relished in _that_ feeling too before realizing that he really wasn’t supposed to be there. Reaching out his unoccupied hand, he touched her face. “Morgana.”

Morgana stirred and slowly blinked her eyes open. “Hi,” she replied sleepily.

“Hey there. I thought you were going to stay in the chair.” He smirked.

“Oops.”

“I need to go, but I wanted to make sure you were okay first.”

“I’m probably the most ‘okay’ I’ve ever been. I didn’t wear the bracelet and I still had no visions. I guess you’re even better for me than we thought.” She gave him a sleepy grin.

“Good to know.” He stroked her face. “I’ll see you later, hmm?” He leaned his head over, gave her a quick kiss and got up. After he’d laced up his boots, he blew her a kiss and left the room. He had to hide the Cup of Life before he went to Arthur.

Feeling supremely happy, Morgana rolled over and fell back into a blissful sleep.

xxxXxxx

Arthur had Merlin with him when he went to visit the King later in the day. Gaius had advised him to visit daily. When they reached his chamber door, they found Morgana pacing in front of it. She smiled nervously at them. “I didn't want to go in alone,” she informed them.

“I understand, Morgana,” Arthur replied. “This can't be easy for you, considering . . .”

“No. But if I can help his recovery, I will,” she replied.

Arthur made to open the door. Merlin grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze while Arthur's back was turned. She gave him a quick smile then followed Arthur into Uther's chambers.

The King sat in front of the window next to his bed. A small sitting area had been arranged there with a table and two chairs. Arthur pulled another one over from the larger table and gestured for Morgana to take it. He sat in the other while Merlin stood behind him.

Uther didn't say anything until after Arthur said, “Father.” The King looked up at Arthur then saw Morgana.

“Her! Get her away from me! She's dangerous!” he practically yelled, and tried to push his chair further away from her. Morgana went pale and threw a frightened look at Merlin. Arthur, fortunately, didn't catch it.

Arthur looked at Uther in puzzlement, Morgana in hurt. Clearly his observing of her magic had affected him worse than they had thought.

“Father, what's wrong? Why do you think she's dangerous?” Arthur asked.

“She . . . she did magic! The other sorceress . . . went flying! Can't believe . . . my own daughter . . . magic,” the King stuttered.

“You think Morgana has magic? But she's never performed any before. Are you sure it wasn't Morgause? She has strong magic.”

“No, Morgana . . .”

“Father, Morgana helped push Morgause against the wall, but not with magic. With her hands.”

“No, it was magic. I saw her . . . words, then flying . . .”

Arthur finally looked at Morgana and asked, “You did shove her physically, right?” Morgana had composed herself somewhat by then, and nodded. Arthur still looked doubtful. “Why does he keep insisting you have magic?”

“Morgause tried to resist us by pushing back with magic,” Merlin replied, glancing at Morgana so she understood the new lie. “Perhaps it looked like Morgana was using magic then.” She nodded again.

“No!” Uther interjected. “Morgana made her fly!” He suddenly leaned forward in his chair, looking at Morgana for the first time. “Why Morgana, why? You didn't have to choose magic! We could have lived happily, if you had just denied it!”

Morgana paled even more; her lips clamped shut and her eyes teared up. She shook her head in denial while the other two stared at Uther in shock.

“Why, daughter, why?” The King stood then, and tried to lunge for Morgana. Arthur was up in an instant, restraining the desperate King. “Turn from the evil, Morgana, come back to me!”

Arthur struggled to hold Uther in place. He turned his head to address the two behind him, “Merlin, get Morgana out of here, to her chambers, wherever. Go!”

Merlin didn't hesitate; he leapt over to Morgana, helped her up and rushed her from the room. Once the door closed, he faced her and held onto her upper arms. “Breathe, Morgana. Shhh.” He glanced around to be sure no one was around then brought her into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly.

Morgana didn't start crying, but she didn't relax either. “M-Merlin . . .”

He saw she was about to lose it. “Let's get you to your chambers, yeah?” She nodded slowly and took his offered arm. He walked them quickly away from the King's chambers.


	16. Chapter 16

Once they reached Morgana's door, Merlin put one arm around her and opened the door with the other. He gently guided her in then closed and locked the door behind them. Once he pulled her back into his arms, she burst into tears.

Merlin simply held her there while she soaked his shirt again. After a while, she allowed him to lead her over to her bed. They sat on the edge while she cried herself out. He held her there, running his hand through her hair or rubbing her back until she quieted and relaxed.

She pulled back a bit to look up at him. “Thank you,” she said.

“Anytime,” he replied, and brought a hand to her face. “How are you feeling now?”

“Tired.” She laughed a bit, ironically. “And scared. What if Arthur believes him? What will we do?”

“Maybe we should tell him the truth.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her. “About both of us. If one of us confesses, we both should confess. We can take his reaction together, so neither of us goes through it alone. I couldn't let you feel alone.” He stroked her face soothingly.

“Are you sure? We could die.” She gripped his hands desperately. “I don't want to die; we _just_ came together.”

“I don't think he'll execute us. Especially you—you're his sister. And enough people have been killed lately that he probably won't want to add anyone to the list.”

“I'm scared, Merlin.”

“So am I. I've dreaded this moment for a long time. Imagined it so many times. But I've always imagined doing it alone. But I won't be alone; I'll be with you and you'll be with me.” He gave her a tender, lingering kiss, followed by a brilliant smile.

She smiled back at him. “What would I do without you?”

“You'll never have to find out. Now, Arthur's likely to show up at any minute. Where should I be?”

“Right here. He knows we're friends, so maybe back up a bit, hold just one hand?” He did as suggested, just as a knock sounded at the door.

“ _Unlúcan_ ,” Merlin muttered, and the door silently unlocked.

“Come in,” Morgana called to her half-brother.

Arthur stepped in, assessing the room’s mood. Morgana looked relatively calm; a huge contrast to how she’d looked when she’d left their father’s chambers. Merlin had a hold on her hand, like he’d been comforting her. That was fine, as long as it didn’t go any further than that—and his father didn’t find out. He decided to speak. “So, Morgana, how are you doing?”

“A bit calmer. And tired. I didn’t expect that ordeal when I went in there,” she replied.

“No, none of us did.” He and Merlin exchanged looks—Merlin’s told Arthur he’d spent quite a bit of time calming her down. Arthur’s told him that he was still skeptical of his father’s claims. Merlin tightened his grip on Morgana’s hand while Arthur sat in the chair that was still near Morgana’s bed.

“How’s the King?” Merlin asked.

“He broke down and started crying after you left,” he paused a moment, “I had to give him the bottle of sedative Gaius left. I don’t know if he’s descended into madness or what.” He brushed a hand through his hair and sighed.

“Gaius thinks that’s a possibility, unfortunately,” Merlin added.

“Morgana, do you have _any_ idea what may have set him off? He keeps bringing up _magic_ , but I think I’d know by now if you had magic,” Arthur scoffed with a loud “Ha!”

She looked at Merlin and thought to him, “ _Do we tell him now?_ ”

Merlin’s eyes went wide, “ _No, I’d really like to form a plan, just in case . . . you know_.”

Morgana nodded. “No, I really don’t know. We shoved Morgause and knocked her out. I’m not sure how he could see magic in that. Maybe the torture twisted his mind?”

Arthur thought about that. “It’s a possibility. I wish I knew what she did to him. If she wasn’t already dying, I’d . . .” He broke off when he saw Morgana’s face crumple again. “Oh, I’m sorry Morgana. I know she’s your sister, and even if she lied to you and hurt people you love, you still care about her.”

“It’s all right Arthur. We’re so different it’s easy to forget,” she replied.

“Well, it’s not even lunchtime and you’ve already had an emotionally tiring day. Why don’t you get some rest?” Arthur suggested.

“Thank you. I think I will.” She squeezed Merlin’s hand and let go. “Thank you Merlin, for staying with me. I’d still be a mess if you hadn’t been here.”

“My pleasure, Milady,” Merlin replied, and added through thought, “ _We’ll talk later, one way or another_.”

“ _I’ll be waiting_ ,” she replied, then out loud said, “Bye Arthur, Merlin.” They nodded at her and left the room. She curled up under her covers and fell rapidly into a deep sleep.

xxxXxxx

Arthur kept Merlin running after him all day, surveying damage caused by the immortal army, interviewing victims’ families, ensuring the health of those who’d been imprisoned, and more. And then there were his regular chores. By the time he stumbled into Gaius’s chambers late in the night, he could hardly keep his eyes open. He found Gaius asleep, head down on the table next to his supper bowl.

Merlin walked over to the table and sat across from the old man. “Gaius,” he shook his mentor’s shoulder. “Gaius,” he said again, a little louder.

“Wha—” Gaius startled awake. “Oh, Merlin, there you are. You missed dinner.”

Merlin gave his mentor a look that said, “no, really?” and replied, “Arthur had me chasing him around all day, and we went _everywhere_. Ugh.” He let his head fall to the table.

“Merlin, at least eat your supper before you go to sleep.”

“Mmmm,” the young man replied, but he sat up and finished off the bowl of stew Gaius placed in front of him. “G’night,” he murmured before shuffling up the steps to his room.

Once he’d closed the door, he Merlin collapsed on his bed facedown. He didn’t even bother to remove his boots or change his clothes. Just as his eyes drifted shut, a familiar voice sounded in his head. “ _Merlin, are you still awake?_ ”

“ _Ohhh, Morgana,” he replied, “Barely_.”

“ _I’m sorry; you must be exhausted. I’ll let you_ —”

He cut her off, “ _Morgana, it’s all right. I can stay awake a little while longer, for you_.”

“ _All right then_.” She paused. “ _So we need a plan to tell Arthur about our magic_.”

“ _Yeah. Any ideas?_ ”

“ _We pack bags with provisions in case things go wrong?_ ”

“ _Ha! Yeah. Maybe we should have learned transportation spells_.” He laughed.

“ _Okay. What can we do to stop him from running us through the moment he finds out?_ ”

“ _Well, I can slow time, but probably not for long enough for us to get away. Hmm. I could maybe find a spell that would work for longer_ —”

She cut _him_ off this time. “ _You can slow time?_ ”

“ _Um, yes? That’s how I saved Arthur that first time, when the fake Lady Helen tried to kill him with the dagger?_ ”

“ _Oh, when you first got your job_.” She giggled through their link.

“ _Yes_.” He rolled his eyes. She couldn’t see it, but she felt his annoyance. “ _All right, I’m getting too muddled to think. I thought we could do this in the morning, ha_.”

“ _It’s all right Merlin. We’ll think more clearly after rest anyway. Goodnight, my love_.”

“ _Goodnight Morgana_.”

xxxXxxx

Merlin managed to magically “cheat” at his morning chores the next day to finish them quickly. He made his way to his room stealthily. Arthur was out training, but Merlin didn’t want to be caught out by anyone. On his way, he contacted Morgana. “ _Can you get away right now?_ ”

“ _Probably. Gwen’s here, but I can give her something to keep her busy for a while. And make up an excuse for myself. Where are you?_ ”

“ _On my way to my chambers. Gaius should be out, but even if he isn’t, it’ll be all right_.”

“ _Good. I’ll see you in a little while_.”

While Merlin finished his walk to his room, Morgana was thinking about how to keep Gwen occupied. Getting to the physician’s chambers would be easy—she could fake a headache and go down herself for a remedy. Suddenly it hit her; she could give Gwen the day off. No doubt she still needed to put her little home in order and take care of her injured brother.

After a short conversation with Gwen, involving a lot of persuasion, Morgana was off to the physician’s chambers for her “headache” remedy. Getting to spend time with Merlin and working to clear her conscience was definitely worth the hassle of subterfuge. Living with no more need to lie would be a glorious thing.

She flew through the outer door and closed it behind her. The door to Merlin’s room was wide open, so she ran excitedly up the stairs and into the room closing that one behind her as well. Merlin had stood up, so she ran into his arms, nearly knocking him back down to his bed. She wrapped her arms around the back of his head and pulled his lips down to meet her waiting ones. His arms had gone around her reflexively when he’d nearly fallen, but as he recovered, they’d tightened around her to hold her closer.

She decided to experiment with her magic a bit and attempt to enhance the kiss. She wanted to extend her five senses out one by one then bring them together. Since her hands were already on his head, she ran them slowly through his hair. It was surprisingly soft at the touch and elicited a moan from him. Two senses. She inhaled his scent- that essence of _him_ –and found a mix of aromatic herbs, smoke and evergreen trees. Taste, oh the ways that could be explored. She opened her mouth to inhale, then flicked out her tongue to trace his bottom lip- he moaned again –and he opened his mouth for her. Tasting—oh, what was that? Apple, cinnamon and _butter_? Apparently it _does_ melt in his mouth. _Mmm_ , she moaned. She pulled her mouth from his and opened her eyes. Those deep blue eyes, alight with fire, stared back into hers. Before she could get lost in them, she glanced down at his neck then removed the neckerchief that was blocking her view of the skin that matched hers. Her mouth descended upon that skin and she flicked her tongue out to taste that too, _oh mmm_. They moaned at the same time. Finally, she used magic to combine the five sensations together. _Ohhhh_! Warmth flowed through her veins, and where they were touching, she felt it rush into him.

They both gasped out loud, and his knees buckled. He sat down hard on the bed, pulling her with him. She ended up on his lap. His hands worked their way up to her head, and their lips met once again. Was it getting hot in the room? Those hands trailed down to her waist, to hold her in place. Their mouths opened again while she wrapped her hands around the back of his head again. “ _What did you just do?_ ” she heard in her head. She didn’t bother to reply; she just repeated the magic.

They broke apart, and stared into each others’ eyes. She watched his flash gold in response. He raised his eyebrows and his mouth went to her neck, kissing exposed skin there. She stretched her arms in the air then ran her hands leisurely through his hair. After a moment, she pulled his head back up so their mouths could meet again. “ _Ahhhh!_ ” they thought together. He ran his hands up and down her sides while she ran hers down his back. She daringly inched them under his tunic and up his bare back a little. He shuddered, renewed his attack on her mouth and held her a bit tighter. “ _Morgana. Morgana, I don’t think I can stop myself, it’s_ . . . Ahhhh!” Her hands had drifted up his sides, and he’d broken away to gasp. Then he lowered his head to kiss along her collarbone.

“ _Why do you want to stop?_ ” she thought back, attempting to run her hands across his stomach. One of his hands reached up to tangle in her hair.

“ _I don’t want to dishonor you, I_ . . .” her hands had reached his chest, “. . . _want to do this the right way_.”

“ _Feels right so far_ ,” she teased.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, out loud. He straightened up and gently pulled her hands out from beneath his tunic, and held them with his. “You know I want this as much as you do, but not right now, not like this.”

“Why not?” she pouted.

“You know why not,” he said, and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “And, anyone could walk in here anytime. Oh, and we have things to discuss.”

“But we have spells to—”

He put a finger to her lips. “Not now. _But I still want you, body and soul, later_.” His eyes twinkled deviously.

“Fine.” She got down off his lap. “ _But I’m going to hold you to that. You’re mine_.” She smiled wickedly.

He gulped, but took her hand. “All right. Telling Arthur. Plan. Oh,” he said, before diving under his bed.

Morgana leaned over to see what he was doing. She watched him pull up a loose floorboard to reveal a hidden cavity, but she couldn’t see what was in it. He reached in a pulled out a book—she recognized it as the spellbook he occasionally brought to their lessons. “What else do you have in there?” she asked, fascinated.

“Oh, I’ll show you later. Assuming we survive.” He replaced the floorboard and rose to sit on the bed again.

“You’re not inspiring confidence.”

“I know, sorry,” he replied, and scratched the back of his neck. He held up the book. “There’s probably a spell or two in this that could help us get away without hurting anyone.”

“That would be good.”

He opened the book and started paging through it. “Yes. Let’s see . . . . _swefe nu_ , I’ve used that before—it’s a sleeping spell.” A few more pages. “Oh this could be fun, _úpáhefe_. It lifts things, ha!”

“How about something that could restrain someone? I don’t know the word for that.”

“That would be _bind_ or _bindaþ_ , and you’d have to direct something to do it. Whatever’s handy, I guess. Those are all offensive spells. What about defensive ones?”

“Shields are easy. That one you used on the clearing would be great.”

“A variation on it, maybe. Hmm, what’s that word again? _Áhýdan_ , so, _áhýdaþ fram oþres síena_.”

“Do you think that’s enough?”

“Probably, though I’ll look through this a bit more if I get some free time.”

“All right. So we should pack some things . . .”

“Yeah. For you, clothes and a blanket or two. I’ll do the same, and get food and medical supplies. I just pray we won’t need any of it.”

“Me too.” She glanced outside. “Oh, it’s nearly lunchtime. After lunch I’m to officially renounce my Queen-ship to the people of Camelot. And after that, I get to do it in front of the Court. _Wonderful_.”

“Oh great, another event Arthur didn’t _tell_ me about but probably expects me to _know_ about. Well, at least I’ll be there to support you, love.” He flashed his winning smile at her.

“Yes, you will.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

Before he got too mesmerized, he had to ask her something, “Will you be ready to tell him tomorrow morning?”

Her breath caught for a moment before she answered. “Yes, I think so.”

He took both her hands again. “Remember—we’re together in this. No matter what. I love you.”

“Together,” she repeated. “I love you too.”

She brought his face closer for a brief but sweet kiss, then flounced from the room. He was left dazed for a moment, but then picked up the book and thumbed through it. After a few minutes he put it back under the floorboard and secured that in place. He bounced back up and left the chambers, off to face the rest of his day.


	17. Chapter 17

From inside, Merlin watched Morgana address the assembled crowd from the balcony. She apologized for the acts of her sister. She told them that Morgause had acted on her own when firing into the crowd and imprisoning and torturing many. She admitted that Morgause _was_ her sister, but she, Morgana, had never wanted the crown. In a symbolic gesture, she handed the crown to Arthur, who accepted it on behalf of the King. Arthur explained about the King’s ill health and expressed his hope for a quick recovery. Morgana did the same, and Arthur spoke for a few minutes about pulling together as a kingdom to overcome the ills inflicted by Morgause and her men. All in all, Merlin was pretty proud of the siblings.

Arthur and Morgana came back inside talking and laughing together. It seemed their bond was as strong as ever, which was amazing, considering the secrets that had come to light. The truth could have driven the two apart, but instead it brought them together. That would be important tomorrow morning, when the last secret was revealed. Hopefully their bond would keep Arthur from doing something rash.

“Ready to repeat the act for the tougher crowd?” Arthur asked Morgana.

“As ready as I ever will be,” Morgana replied.

“All right then. See you in an hour.” Arthur started walking away. “Come, Merlin.”

Merlin flashed a quick smile at Morgana before following Arthur. “ _Good job Morgana; you handled that very well_ ,” he thought at her.

“ _Thank you Merlin—I’ll see you later_ ,” she replied.

Arthur returned to his chambers and tossed the crowns and his cloak on his bed. “Well that went pretty well.”

“It seemed like it,” Merlin replied.

“I wonder if they’ll react the same way when we officially announce that we’re siblings.”

“Oh. Yeah, that should be interesting.” Merlin thought for a moment. “Does that mean she’ll be officially made a princess?”

“Yes, but we’ll leave that for another day. It’s been crazy enough around here lately, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.” _And you’re about to get another dose in the morning_. “But with rebuilding and such, it’s likely to last for a while.”

“Thanks for pointing that out, _Mer_ lin. Don’t you have something to do?”

“Not that I know of.”

Arthur smirked. “Wrong answer. You can do my laundry until I need you in the throne room. Go on!”

Merlin threw him a withering look before picking up the overflowing basket of dirty laundry. “Of course, Sire,” he said as deprecatingly as he could manage, and walked out.

xxxXxxx

Morgana paced in her chambers while Gwen sat at the table, placidly mending one of Morgana’s gowns. The Lady felt incredibly anxious, which was unusual for her. The pacing wasn’t alleviating the anxiety; it was increasing it. Maybe the pressure of keeping so many secrets was finally weighing on her. Perhaps telling Gwen something would help. They _did_ once share everything. “ _Merlin_ ,” she thought at him.

“ _What can I do for you, beautiful?_ ” he replied.

“ _You’re so sweet_ ,” she giggled internally. “ _I’m pacing in my chambers, feeling anxious. I think all my secrets are starting to get to me_.”

“ _Well, that’s sort of good. Your conscience is returning_.”

“ _That’s good to know. But my anxiety_ . . . _do you think letting go of my secrets will help?_ ”

She could tell he’d gotten serious by his sober tone. “ _Yes, probably_.”

“ _Okay. Gwen is here. I’d love to open up to her, like I used to. Can I tell her about_ us _?_ ”

She could almost hear the deep breath he sucked in. “ _I guess. Arthur’s most likely going to find out tomorrow anyway. Just swear her to secrecy_.” The humor in his voice was back.

“ _Thank you, love. See you in a little while_.”

“ _Bye Morgana_.”

When Morgana stopped pacing, Gwen looked up. “Gwen,” Morgana said, “I’ve been kind of anxious.”

Gwen tried not to laugh, “I’ve noticed. Are you all right, Morgana?”

“Well, not really. I’ve kept a lot of secrets from my friends, but I think sharing some will help. Could I tell you something?”

Gwen blinked at her, wide-eyed. “Of course. You know I’m always here for you.” Morgana sat and Gwen put her hand on top of her friend’s. “What’s troubling you?”

“Oh Gwen, I’ve done so many things I’m not proud of, but this I _am_ proud of.” She paused for a moment. “I’m in love!” she squealed.

Gwen’s mouth fell open. This was new and completely unexpected. Morgana’s courtly flirtations were well-known, but she’d never confessed _this_ before. She seemed genuine. “Wow, that’s incredible, Morgana. Do I know the _extremely_ lucky fellow?”

“As a matter of fact, you do. But you’d never guess him, I’m pretty sure. He’s incredibly kind, patient, giving, humble, and strong. I still can’t believe that he fell for _me_.”

“He sounds wonderful. Are you going to reveal his name?”

“Oh,” her face flushed, “yes, of course. But you can’t tell anyone. He’d get in such trouble . . . it’s Merlin.”

“I _knew_ it!” Gwen nearly shouted. “I knew there was something between you! You’ve been spending a lot of time together, and I’ve noticed how often your eyes meet during meetings and such.” She took Morgana’s other hand. “I’m so happy for you!”

“Oh Gwen, I don’t know how I didn’t notice him before. But now that I know him, I can tell you, there’s so much more to him than meets the eye. I’m crazy.”

“Crazy in love. Now you know how I feel.”

“Definitely. We’re in the same position now—loving someone we shouldn’t. I _understand_ , Gwen.” Morgana squeezed the hands holding hers.

“I was hoping you’d be sensible, unlike me. So much for that.” Gwen chuckled ironically.

“But this will bring us closer again. I hated the distance that had grown between us.”

“Me too. It’s so good to see you happy again.” She cleared her throat. “Now, let me look you over. It’s nearly time to go to court.” Both women stood. Morgana slowly twirled while Gwen checked her dress and hair over.

A knock sounded at the door. Gwen opened it to reveal a page who said, “Lady Morgana’s presence is required in the throne room.” He turned and left.

“Well Gwen, let’s go face the music again.”

xxxXxxx

Morgana and Arthur stood in front of the court. She gave essentially the same speech she’d given on the balcony, just a bit more eloquently. After she formally apologized for Morgause’s actions, Arthur formally accepted her apology on his father’s behalf. She again handed him the crown. Arthur gave his short speech about his father’s health and Camelot pulling together to rebuild and defend. After widespread applause and several other short conversations, the royals went their separate ways to attend to the rest of their duties.

xxxXxxx

Just before he changed for bed, Merlin received a mental message from Morgana.

“ _Merlin, can you come to my chambers?_ ” she asked.

“ _I’m not sure that’s a good idea, considering what happened the last time we were alone_ ,” Merlin replied.

“ _It’s just that . . . I’m nervous about what will happen in the morning_.”

“ _You’re not the only one. But you’ve packed, right?_ ”

“ _Yes_.”

“ _All right. We’re prepared, so we have nothing to fear_.”

“ _I know that, intellectually. But emotionally_ . . .”

“ _Okay, what will make you feel better?_ ”

“ _Would you come sit with me? Just until I fall asleep; then you can go back to your chambers_.”

He debated with himself for a moment, then sighed. “ _All right. I can’t refuse you anything, apparently. But I’m sitting in a chair_ by _your bed, not_ on _it_.”

“ _Fair enough. I know your presence will help me sleep_.”

“ _See you in a few minutes_.”

Merlin opened his door a crack. Luckily Gaius was in bed and already asleep. He carefully opened his door, went through it, and closed it behind him. Tiptoeing through the outer chambers, he crept through that door the same way. Luckily he had enough practice sneaking in and around the castle that he could do so without being caught. When he reached Morgana’s door, he tapped lightly on it.

Morgana opened her door, in her nightgown, and dragged him in. Once she’d closed the door, she threw her arms around him and held him tight for a minute. He held her close and stroked her hair. Then she tilted her head up and gave him a quick kiss. He brought both hands to rest on either side of her face. “Come, let’s get you into bed,” he said. While she walked over to her bed, he went to her table and pulled one of its chairs over to the bed.

“Help me?” she asked, batting her eyelashes at him. He rolled his eyes but picked her up and laid her down. After he drew the covers over her, he sat in the chair and took her hand.

He put his free hand on her hair and stroked it a few times. “There. Now you have no excuses left. Go to sleep, love.”

“One more?” she asked, and pointed at her mouth.

“Okay. But that’s it for tonight.” She nodded. He stood at the side of the bed and leaned over to touch their lips together. Her hands went around his back; one of his stayed in her hair, the other went to her back. The kiss was tender; expressing everything he felt now and hoped for the future. He lingered there, then drew away slowly. “Sleep now, my love.” He took her hand again.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and closed her eyes. Her breathing slowly deepened and evened out. He sat there for a few more minutes, watching her sleep. Once he was sure she was deeply under, he stood up, brushed his hand across her hair again and kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight Morgana,” he whispered, then blew out the one lit candle and left to return to his room.

xxxXxxx

Merlin woke in the morning, surprised that he’d actually fallen asleep. He slowly got up, changed clothes, ate breakfast, and went to collect Arthur’s breakfast. After each activity, he wondered if that would be the last time he did it at Camelot. Was it the end of an era for him? He paused before knocking on Arthur’s door. “ _Morgana_ ,” he thought to her.

“ _Merlin?”_ she replied.

“ _I’m just about to go into Arthur. I’ll . . . I’ll contact you when he’s ready to listen_.”

“ _I’ll be waiting. Very anxiously_.” She closed the link.

Merlin knocked on the door (for once) and went in when he heard the faint, “Enter,” from inside the room. He took a deep breath; as far as Arthur knew, everything would go normally today.

The Prince was sitting up in bed. Merlin sat the tray on the table and went to open the drapes. The light from outside hit Arthur’s eyes, and even though he was awake, he still groaned. “Argh. All that sun better mean a nice day.”

“It looks like it,” Merlin said, before crossing over to the wardrobe and sifting through it to find clothes for Arthur. He draped them on the changing screen and turned to face the slightly grumpy Prince. “Come on, get up, get dressed and eat. You’ll feel better.”

“Fine.” The Prince got up and moved behind the screen to change. When he finished, he stepped out and around to the table, where he sat and ate. Merlin shuffled around the room, doing this and that while Arthur ate. When he finished, he sat there pondering, as he sometimes does.

All part of a normal day. _Keep telling yourself that Merlin, and it might become true_ , Merlin thought to himself. But it was time to contact Morgana. “ _Morgana, it’s time_ ,” he sent to her.

“ _Should I bring Gwen?_ ” she replied.

He thought for a minute. “ _Might as well. They shouldn’t keep secrets from each other_.”

“ _Okay. We’re on our way_.”

When the knock on the door sounded, Merlin was picking up Arthur’s dirty clothes. He left off to answer the door. When Morgana’s face appeared, he said, “Good Morning, Milady, and Gwen.” He smiled and bowed at them to enter, then closed the door behind them and followed as they went further into the room.

Arthur stood when he saw the ladies enter. “Morgana, what can I do for you?” he asked. Gwen curtsied when she reached him; he smiled at her.

“I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk about something?” she asked.

“Of course,” Arthur replied, “I don’t have to be anywhere for an hour or so.”

“Good. Can we sit?”

“Of course.” He pulled out the chair opposite his for her while Merlin moved the tray and dishes away. Arthur and Morgana sat, and Gwen moved to stand behind Morgana. Merlin looked at Morgana; she nodded and he walked around the table. He pulled out the chair next to her and sat in it.

“ _Merl_ in,” he said, annoyed. “What are you doing?”

Merlin looked at Morgana and she spoke. “What I have to say, he has to say.” With that, she reached over and took his hand.

Arthur’s eyes grew wide. He looked at Gwen; she had a satisfied smile on her face. _She already knows_ , Arthur thought. He found his voice and asked, “Are you two seeing each other?”

Morgana made an irritated noise, but it was Merlin who replied. “Yes, but that’s beside the point.”

“Beside the poi . . . you have bigger news than this?” His mouth hung open again. Morgana giggled at his face.

“Well, yes, but try not to freak out. Or kill us,” Merlin replied. He turned to Morgana to ask, “Shall we?”

She nodded, “Together then?” Merlin nodded. They both looked at Arthur and together said, “We have magic.”


	18. Chapter 18

Arthur’s mouth fell open for the third time. He looked at them, back and forth. When he glanced at Gwen, he saw that her expression matched his. _She didn’t know_ this. Merlin and Morgana looked totally serious, which meant it had to be a joke. In fact, the idea that _either_ had magic was totally ridiculous. Morgana liked pretty things, brushing her hair and other silly girl things. And Merlin—he was too much of an idiot to have magic. He couldn’t tell a lie to save his life. So Arthur did what he always did when something funny struck him—he laughed.

The other three in the room looked at Arthur in shock. Had he lost his mind? Gwen walked over to him and shook his shoulders. “Arthur,” she said, trying to get his attention.

He was still chuckling when he said, “Yes, Guinevere. What is it?”

Gwen pulled out the chair next to him and sat in it. “Arthur, I don’t think they’re joking,” she replied. They both looked at the couple in front of them, who didn’t look at all amused.

“No, we’re not,” Merlin replied. “I guess we have to prove it to him,” he said to Morgana. “Do you want to go first or shall I?”

“Oh, you, definitely,” Morgana said with a smirk, “you’re much more impressive than I.”

“All right, he said, smiling at her. He looked right at Arthur and made a fist. He brought the fist to his mouth and whispered, “ _Forbærne_.” He hadn’t looked down, so Arthur and Gwen clearly saw his eyes flash gold. They both gasped and recoiled a little. But when Merlin extended his fist and opened it, they leaned closer again. He opened his fist to reveal a small flame burning on his palm.

Arthur and Gwen looked at it in wonder, then Gwen frowned. “It’s not burning you?” she asked.

Merlin chuckled and said, “No. Take a closer look if you don’t believe me.” Gwen leaned closer and notice there was no burn on his hand. She sat back down.

“That’s it?” Arthur blurted out, and the other three again glared at him.

“Really, Arthur?” Merlin replied, annoyed. “I tell you I have magic, demonstrate that I have it, and all you can say is ‘that’s it?’”

“I expected something a bit . . . grander, to be honest.”

“Something grander, ha,” Merlin muttered. “ _Hoppaþ nu swilce swá lieg fleogan_.” The flame rose from his hand to float in the air. He thought for a minute and said, “ _Fágettaþ híwnessa_.” The flame changed color, then changed color again. It continued to change colors until he closed his hand and ended the spell with a flash of his eyes. “Better?” he asked Arthur, who was staring with his mouth open, _again_. Merlin sighed.

Arthur came back to himself, “Yeah.”

“That was beautiful,” Gwen added.

“That was virtually _nothing_ for him. He’s probably _the most_ powerful warlock around,” Morgana said proudly.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but Gwen beat him to it. “Warlock?”

“Someone born with magic,” Merlin said.

“That’s impossible,” Arthur scoffed.

“No, it isn’t,” Merlin said, irritated again. “If you don’t believe me, ask my mother.”

“Okay okay,” Arthur replied, surrendering. Then he got a gleam in his eye. “Powerful, huh?” He had trouble believing Merlin was _the_ _most_ anything, but if that was true, then he was _the_ _most_ dangerous too.

“Your turn, love,” Merlin said to Morgana.

“Okay.” She thought for a minute, then extended her hand toward Arthur’s bed and said, “ _Flíeh hrǽgl_.” The topmost blanket on Arthur’s bed flew off, scattering the pillows that Merlin had carefully arranged on it.”

“Hey!” Merlin and Arthur yelled together.

Morgana smirked. “Just a minute, boys,” she lifted her hand again, “ _dæfte þæt bedd_.” The blanket and pillows flew back onto the bed, rearranging themselves perfectly. “So, do you believe us now, Arthur?”

“Definitely,” he replied. Merlin and Morgana looked at each other and grinned. “But . . .” Their faces fell as they turned back to him. “Both of you are in violation of the law. The automatic sentence is death.”

“Arthur, “Gwen interrupted, “they’re your friends, how can you . . .”

He cut her off. “I know that!” he yelled, not looking at anyone. “I-I don’t know what to do here,” he said in a small voice. The floor looked pretty interesting to him right now.

Morgana had never seen Arthur this vulnerable before. She reached out a hand to touch his. “Arthur. We don’t want to hurt you or _anyone_. We just want to keep you and Camelot safe.”

Arthur lifted his eyes to look at Morgana and Merlin, finally focusing on Merlin. “Is that true?” he asked him.

“Yes Arthur. This may be hard for you to believe, but you and I are bound together. We share a great destiny. Why else would I put up with you?”

“You . . . put up . . . with me?” Arthur stammered, incredulous.

Merlin leaned forward. “Arthur. You’re destined to be the greatest king the world will ever know—the Once and Future King. With my help, you’ll unite all of Albion and return magic to Camelot.” Arthur stared at him, in shock once again. “You know, if you keep doing that your face will stay that way.”

The tension broke and everyone except Arthur chuckled. The prince just scowled. “Ha ha. But really, the greatest king ever? Wow.” He thought for a moment. “Wait a minute. You’ve said something like this before.”

“Yes, you dollophead, because it’s _true_. I’ve been trying to get you used to the idea,” Merlin replied.

“So, what are you going to do with us?” Morgana asked.

Arthur took a deep breath and reached for Gwen’s hand. She looked surprised, but didn’t say anything. “Well right now I want to know if you have any more surprises to spring on me.”

“Ah, well . . .” Merlin scratched at the back of his neck.

“I see visions of the future,” Morgana interjected. “The nightmares I get—they show me possible futures.” She looked at Merlin. “Sometimes they can be changed.”

Arthur fought to keep his mouth closed, but his eyes still got wide. “So . . . the questing beast . . . when you ran outside, in your nightgown, you really _were_ warning me.”

She glared. “Yeah, you big .  . . _dollophead_.”

Merlin grinned widely. “She would tell Gaius or me her ‘nightmare’ and we would try to prevent it from happening. The things I do to keep you alive.” He rolled his eyes.

“All . . . right then. Anything else?” Arthur asked. If they kept this up, his heart would stop from all the stress.

“Well, I have another name,” Merlin supplied. “The druids call me Emrys. I’m not entirely comfortable with it though.”

“O . . . kay,” Arthur replied.

“One more big thing,” Merlin paused to tell Morgana mentally, “ _Sorry about this love_.” He took a deep breath and tried not to look at Morgana’s puzzled face. “Arthur, you didn’t kill the dragon.”

“What,” he said flatly. It wasn’t a question.

Merlin gulped. “After you were knocked out, I . . . I _told_ it to leave and never attack Camelot again.”

Arthur was incredulous. “What?! You couldn’t possibly do that. You’d have to be a . . .”

“. . . Dragonlord? Yes, I am.” Merlin stated. Morgana’s and Gwen’s mouths fell open.

“How? . . When? . . What?” Arthur spluttered.

“Do you know how dragonlords get their powers?” Merlin asked.

“Yes. They inherit them when their father dies . . . oh.” Arthur looked over at Merlin, who was looking at the floor.

Morgana moved her arm around Merlin’s shoulders. “ _Why didn’t you tell me all this?_ ” she asked him mentally.

“ _Too painful_ ,” he replied.

Arthur watched them carefully—they seemed to be communicating without talking, but decided to address that later. “So, when did your father die?”

“Two years ago.” Merlin said, still not looking up.

Arthur did some math in his head and thought back. “That was when the dragon attacked and we went looking for . . . Balinor.”

“You’re surprisingly astute today, Arthur,” Merlin said.

“And I told you . . . oh no. I’m _so_ sorry Merlin,” Arthur replied.

“Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know. I was never upset at you for that.” Merlin looked back up at him. Arthur, Gwen and Morgana were looking at him with sympathy.

“We can talk about it another time, if you want,” Arthur said. “I’m guessing you have plenty of other stories I don’t know anything about.”

“Yeah. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve saved your life.” Merlin laughed a little.

“So that’s all the big stuff?” Arthur asked, looking back and forth between Merlin and Morgana.

“Yes,” Morgana replied, and nodded.

“Well,” Arthur started, “that’s an awful lot of information to take in.”

“I must say, Arthur, you’re taking this a lot better than we thought you would,” Merlin said.

“Oh, I haven’t decided anything yet.” The Prince silenced him with a look.

“Um . . .” Merlin said.

“You,” he pointed at Merlin, “and you,” he pointed at Morgana, “lied to me. But I have to forgive Morgana, to some degree, because she’s my sister and I don’t want to alienate her.” He looked closely at Morgana. “You can control your magic, yes?” She nodded. “All right. I’m going to confine both of you, _separately_ , to your chambers. I’m going to ask you to _stay_ there, on your honor, until I reach a decision. That means I won’t post guards until you give me a reason to do so. But I don’t want to see you until I’m ready.” His face fell. “I don’t think I can bear it right now, not after everything else that’s happened recently.”

Morgana reached out her hand to touch Arthur’s, but stopped when she saw the hurt, scared look on his face. She looked at Merlin, who nodded. “Okay, we’ll go. Take whatever time you need—we’ll be waiting.”

Merlin got up and helped Morgana with her chair. He held her hand as they walked over to the door and opened it. He turned to look back at Arthur and smiled, then faced forward again, leading Morgana out the door and closing it behind them.

Arthur almost called them back at that. But he really did need the time to think about what to do. It wasn’t every day that one found out their sister and their best fr- uh, servant -had very powerful, but illegal, talents. And that they’d been protecting him because of some destiny that had been written long before any of them had been born. And _hey!_ His friend was courting his sister? That _totally_ broke the (unwritten) man code. Merlin deserved punishment for that _alone_ —or public humiliation at the _very_ least.

But _magic_. He knew what his father would do. He’d execute them without blinking an eye. Although with Morgana being his _actual_ daughter, who knew? And he couldn’t be asked for an opinion _now_. It was obvious he was losing his mind, even though he’d been right about Morgana after all. Still, could he execute his _sister_?  He’d already forgiven her for her brief alliance with Morgause; what would people think if he forgave her for _this_?

There are a few times in the past few years that he’d been willing to rethink what he’d been taught about magic. But every time his father had been proven right after all. _Merlin_ had even helped him change his mind back. _Why would he do that?_ And he’d diminished Merlin’s grief over his father. But Merlin had never said anything negative to him about that. If someone had insulted the King like that, Arthur would have flown off the handle. But Merlin wasn’t like that; in fact, he only ever insulted his master. And Arthur had long ago accepted these insults for what they were—attempts to improve his shortcomings _and_ bits of disguised affection. He wasn’t the same man as he’d been before he’d met Merlin.

Gwen noticed that Arthur was deep in thought, and had left him alone. But she also knew he had duties to attend to and that _she_ would have to interrupt him. No one else was left. So she nudged him back to reality. She wanted to ask him if he’d made his decision, but from the confused look he gave her she could see that he hadn’t. So she got him up and moving to where he was supposed to be. She just prayed he’d be able to make the right decision.

xxxXxxx

Merlin walked Morgana back to her chambers. He opened the door for her, and they just stood there staring at each other for a long moment. He brought her into a hug and started rubbing her back soothingly.

“I can’t tell what he’s thinking,” Morgana said.

“I can’t either,” Merlin replied. “That’s weird; I usually can. But I don’t think we should panic yet.”

“No. He seems relatively reasonable about this. That’s kind of odd for him, but I’ll take it.”

“It’s better than the dungeon or the chopping block.”

“Definitely.”

“So we’ll do as he asks and stay in our rooms. Maybe I should look up a teleportation spell, hmm?”

She laughed and smacked his chest. “That should keep you busy for a while.”

He smirked. “Yeah. Well, at least we can still talk. Good thing he doesn’t know that.”

“Don’t smirk—it doesn’t look as good on you as it does on me.”

“You’re right. As long as you’re not plotting evil, that is.”

“Oh you, get out of here.”

“As you wish, Milady.” He gave her an elaborate bow and surprised her with a quick kiss. “ _Talk to you later, love_ ,” he thought to her, and walked back to the physician’s chambers. He was optimistic that Arthur _wouldn’t_ execute them, but apart from that he had no clue.

When he walked in, he startled Gaius, who was creating something at a table. “Merlin! Why aren’t you at work?”

“Oh, well, that’s a funny story,” Merlin replied.

Gaius gave him _The Eyebrow_. “Which I’m going to hear _now_ , right?”

“Of course. I have nothing to hide from anyone now.”

 _The Eyebrow_ went higher. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“If you think it means I’ve told Arthur the truth about my ‘special talents,’ then you’re right.”

“Well, you’re still alive. That’s good. But what made you decide to do it _now_?”

“A lot of things, really. Back when I healed Morgana, we decided when we told Arthur the truth about our magic, we’d do it _together_. And both of us were getting tired of hiding it from him. Then Uther saw Morgana use magic against her sister. Every time he sees her he screams in terror. That lie was _especially_ hard to maintain.”

“Does he know about your relationship?”

“Yeah, we told him that too. He seemed almost more upset about that than the magic, oddly enough.”

“Strange. So you know what he’s going to do with you two?”

“No, he hasn’t made a decision yet. And I can’t get a read on him either way, which is weird. For now, he’s confined us to our separate chambers. He doesn’t want to see us until he’s made up his mind.”

“We should be grateful for that. A few years ago you’d have been promptly executed.”

“Oh I am. But being confined here . . . I hope it’s not for very long. I don’t want to get bored.”

Gaius gave him _The Eyebrow_ again, accompanied by a scowl. “Bored, eh? I don’t think you’ll have to worry about _that_.” He got an impish gleam in his eye.

Merlin groaned. He should have known better than to say that. Now he’d consigned himself to incessant grinding and the like. His eyes flicked to the leech tank—it was, unfortunately, dirty again. “Hooray,” he said weakly.

“It won’t be all bad. I’ll give you time to study too. Now, help me with this potion, will you?”


	19. Chapter 19

Morgana sat on her bed, reconciled to spending plenty of time in her chambers. Although she’d have to get creative when it came to things to do. Gwen could bring her books and other things, like needlework. She sighed. There really _wasn’t_ much she could do. Hopefully Gwen would show up soon. At least they could work together, and talk. Gwen probably had plenty of questions about magic and _other_ things.

Gwen didn’t keep Morgana waiting for long. “I had to get Arthur going. He was on his way to _thinking_ himself to death. Probably would have if I hadn’t been there.” She giggled a bit.

Morgana joined in. With Gwen here, confinement wouldn’t be so bad. “Thinking is _particularly_ bad for him.”

“So, how are you doing?” Gwen asked.

“With you here, a lot better. I can always talk with Merlin, but sometimes only another girl will do.”

Gwen stared. “Wait. You and Merlin can talk, even when you’re not together?”

“Oops. Don’t tell Arthur, but yes. We can speak into each other’s minds. We don’t know how far it can go though. “

“ _Wow_. Any other _special_ things you two can do?”

“Well, besides the obvious, it’s all kind of special. I’m still learning. Merlin’s been studying longer though, so he’s been teaching me.”

“It’s still hard for me to believe, my two best friends have magic! What’s it like?”

“Well, it’s hard to describe. It’s part of me, like an arm or leg. But it’s more like a sense that comes alive when I call on it. I guess it’s kind of like fire. Fire can warm and light the dark, but it can also burn and destroy. It depends on how you use it. Despite what _Uther_ thinks, far more people use magic for good than evil.”

“I _think_ I understand. So Merlin has used his magic for good, like saving Arthur and stopping Morgause. And Morgause has mostly used hers for evil, like hurting Camelot and revenge on Uther.”

Morgana thought about her sister for a moment. She was still in her coma and had been moved to a small chamber near the physician’s chambers. “Yes. When Merlin discovered that the bracelet Morgause had given me was poisoning my mind, he broke the enchantment. She controlled me and he freed me. She asked _everything_ of me and he’s asked _nothing_ of me. If that doesn’t prove magic is unbiased, then I don’t know what will.”

“You must hate Morgause.”

“Oddly enough, I don’t. Yes, she took me and used me, but she’s still my sister. I may even forgive her if she ever wakes up, but we’ll never be as close as we were before.”

“I’m so sorry. I don’t wish her evil, but I can’t wish her well either. If Elyan ever did something like that to me, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that.”

“I hope not.” Gwen suddenly got a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “I think you should tell me more about your little romance—how it came about and all that. All the lovely details.”

Morgana blushed. “All right. But not _every_ detail. Some are kind of . . . _personal_.” She blushed deeper. “But I want to know how you and Arthur came to be so close too.”

Gwen blushed. “Okay, but you first.”

“Fine. Well, when he first got here, I didn’t pay him much attention. He was just some scrawny servant. Then I noticed _you_ notice him. You were so adorable.”

Gwen flushed again. “He never felt the same way.”

“Oh I know. But he really caught my attention when he drank that poison and helped us save the druid boy. Who would take up a seemingly dangerous cause like that? And he followed Arthur everywhere into all sorts of danger and they always came home, usually unscathed. He helped rescue you, defied the King and that horrible Witchfinder . . . and even had the courage to kill someone he cared about to save the rest of Camelot.”

“ _What?_ ” Gwen stared at Morgana with her mouth hanging open. “When was _that?_ ”

“Remember that strange sleeping sickness? And how Morgause kidnapped me?”

“Yes?”

“I’d talked to her before that. She asked if I wanted Uther gone. I thought I hated him then, so I said yes. She made me the source of a sleeping curse—once everyone was asleep, she came in, with a few undead knights, to kill everyone. But her plan went wrong when Merlin found out I was the source. So he poisoned me and I ‘died’ for a short time. Camelot was saved, but Morgause took me and ‘saved’ me.”

“Wow.”

“She’d already started controlling me by then. I wasn’t held by bandits. She kept me, taught me some dark magic and convinced me that everyone was against me and Camelot needed to fall. So I came back and tried to sabotage Camelot several times. Merlin always stopped me; I didn’t know how.”

“Magic.”

“Yes. Finally, after I’d fallen down the stairs and woken up, I tried to kill the king. He stopped me and told me about his magic. He suspected something about my bracelet was making me evil, and it was. That time the four of us went to the lake? He performed a spell that destroyed the enchantment and healed me.”

“That explains a lot. I noticed you weren’t the same after you came home from your captivity.”

“No. But I got off topic, didn’t I?” Morgana smiled while Gwen laughed. “Well besides all those things he did for others, he helped _me_. He noticed when I first discovered my magic—the fires in here? Me and my uncontrolled magic. He’d listen to me when I wanted to talk about it, and even brought me flowers. You remember.”

“Yeah I do.”

“I don’t know if he felt any romantic interest in me then, but I was beginning to. He’s always been patient, kind and understanding. I know why now, but back then, I didn’t. And that intrigued me, until Morgause happened.”

“So you were with her, she controlled you, you came back, he stopped you, and he healed you. Where’s the romance?”

“Okay okay,” Morgana laughed. “After he healed me, I asked him to teach me magic. So we had several lessons together and I’ve learned a lot. I’ve even helped him save Camelot a few times. But we just grew closer and closer, first as really good friends. Then something just . . . changed. I don’t know what. I wanted to spend every minute with him for the rest of my life. I want to take care of him and do ‘improper’ things with him. Am I crazy?”

Gwen took Morgana’s hands. “Not at all. That’s pretty much how I feel about Arthur.” She blushed again.

“Okay, so we’re both crazy.”

“Absolutely nuts.”

“Now tell me about you and Arthur . . .”

xxxXxxx

The Prince Regent was having trouble focusing. His mind kept wanting to return to the life-altering news he’d received this morning. But everyone around him insisted they needed his attention. They were right, of course. The kingdom needed to be run. That was simply more important than the life or death decision two of the most important people in his life had forced on him. _Wasn’t it?_

Arthur just wanted to back to his room to think. So when dinnertime came, he requested it be brought to his chambers. He asked a pair of guards to stand outside his door to turn away visitors—he didn’t want to be disturbed unless _he_ asked for company. He didn’t think he’d be able to sleep until he’d made his decision.

So, _magic_. Possessing and/or using it was illegal. By his father’s standard, even knowing or associating with someone who possessed magic was illegal. That means Arthur was breaking the law by keeping Merlin and Morgana around. That meant everyone who knew Merlin and Morgana was breaking the law, even the King himself! Most everyone in the area would have to be executed, but who would be left to rule or be ruled? _Not acceptable!_

But _why_ was magic illegal? The King maintained that it was evil. Plenty of magic users had attacked Camelot with evil intent; that’s why Arthur had never questioned it before. But now he had evidence to the contrary. Merlin wasn’t evil. For one, he’d had plenty of time and opportunities to kill him and his father, and they were both still alive. Plus the man _cried_ over _unicorns_ and _hated_ hunting. And the druids had never gathered together an army to take down Camelot, and they absolutely could. So maybe magic could be good _and_ evil. But that didn’t answer why his father said it was _evil_. He needed to know, and he’d have to ask someone who has been around long enough to know.

Arthur opened his door to speak to the guards. “You there—please go to the physician’s chambers and ask Gaius to come to me immediately.” The guard nodded and left.

The Prince went back inside. While he waited for Gaius he ate his now-cold dinner. He knew one thing for sure—he didn’t want to execute either of his friends. He didn’t want to imprison or banish them either. Doing that would leave vacancies around the castle he wouldn’t be able to cope with.

After a few minutes, there was a quiet knock at the door. Arthur called out, “Enter,” and Gaius came in, looking very apprehensive.

“Sire, what can I do for you this evening?” Gaius asked.

“Sit down, Gaius, I have a few questions for you,” Arthur replied. “You know what Merlin and Morgana told me this morning?”

Gaius didn’t look surprised. “Yes, he told me when he came back.”

“How is he?”

“A little worried, but I’ve kept him busy. He’s been mentally preparing himself for this revelation for quite a while.”

“You should know I’m _pretty_ sure I won’t execute him or Morgana.”

“They’ll be relieved. I don’t think they seriously thought you would.”

Arthur laughed weakly. “That’s . . . good.”

“You’ve changed a lot in the past few years Arthur. For the better.”

“Thanks. But I asked you here to ask you some questions. On my own, I’ve come to the conclusion that magic can be good _and_ evil.”

“That’s right. It’s like any other tool—it can be used to build up or destroy.”

“That means my Father’s only half-right. What made him think magic is evil?”

“Oh Arthur, I can’t answer that question without breaking an oath I made a long time ago.”

“Did you make this oath to my Father?”

“Yes, and he wouldn’t want me to break it now.”

“Gaius, have you _seen_ my Father lately? He won’t care, let alone know, what you’ve done.”

“Arthur, I—“

“Gaius, I have to decide the fates of my _sister_ and my _best friend_. I really want to know why magic is supposedly evil so I can make the best possible decision. _Please_.”

The physician, for once, looked his age. “All right. But you won’t like it. Please promise me you won’t try to hurt or kill your father after I tell you this.”

“O-kay. I won’t.”

“Do you remember what made you want to kill your father after you visited Morgause?”

“Yeah. She made an illusion of my mother tell me I was born of magic. Then I went to kill my father until Merlin stopped me. He told me she was lying.”

“Yes. But Morgause wasn’t lying about everything. You _were_ born of magic.”

“WHAT?! Then _Merlin_ lied to me?! Why would he _do_ that? His life would have been _so_ much easier if I’d killed Father!”

“That’s true. But he also knew that if you killed him, you’d regret it for the rest of your life. _That_ death would taint your rule. He didn’t want that for you.”

“But . . .”

“Morgause was telling the truth about your birth. But she did lie when illusion-Ygraine said your father sacrificed her life. He didn’t know that Ygraine’s life was the one that would be taken. None of us did. There was no way to tell _whose_ life would be taken.”

“But he _did_ go to Nimueh for help. My mother _was_ barren.”

“Yes. Although when the illusion-Ygraine said she’d willingly give her life for you, she was telling the truth. The Ygraine I knew _would have_ given her life for you.”

“My head is spinning.”

“I know the feeling. That’s happened to me a lot since Merlin came into my life.”

“Did you know? When he came? Did you know he had magic?”

“Not at first. I sort of _made_ him reveal it to me.”

“So you’ve known about him this whole time.” Gaius nodded. “How about Morgana? Did you know about hers?”

“I suspected her visions were more than nightmares ever since she started having them. Especially when what she saw actually _happened_. Merlin has spent much of his time ensuring they _didn’t_ happen. But her magic—that showed later, after the fire in her room. That was caused by her uncontrolled magic.”

“That explains a lot.”

“Indeed. But I understand her control’s better now. Merlin’s been teaching her.”

“Really? That explains even more.” He sat back and thought for a moment. “So Father thinks magic is evil because my mother died through its use, even though he asked it to be used.”

“Yes. Many magic users were out of control at that time, but that was no reason to declare war on all of them. Nimueh had been a great friend to your parents before the Purge.”

“So Father _is_ a hypocrite. He blamed her, and by extension, all magic users for something that was no one’s fault.”

“Yes.”

“So he’s had hundreds of people killed for one mistake. I love my mother, but I don’t think that justifies what he’s done. And I don’t think she’d approve of his actions either.”

“I’m _sure_ she wouldn’t. What would you do differently?”

“I have the benefit of hindsight. Is that a fair question?”

“Is it? Aren’t you facing a similar decision right now?”

Arthur’s mouth opened for a moment then closed again. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Well?”

“Ahh! Let me think.” The Prince sat there for a few moments. “It would have been better to grieve instead of getting angry. Write a law to punish only those who _misuse_ magic- to break established laws –rather than everyone who possesses it.”

“ _Yes_. That is what many advised your father to do. But of course, he didn’t listen. I’m convinced there are stages of grieving, and that he remained in the anger one.”

“So he’s never gotten over her death? That _really_ explains a lot.”

“Yes. I think his heart and mind were weakened by this, so when a big enough shock came along—”

“Morgana inadvertently revealing her magic—”

“—they snapped. And that’s where he is now.”

“I can see that now.”

“Do you have your decision for Merlin and Morgana?”

“I believe I do. But I think I’ll sleep on it. See if I still feel the same in the morning.”

“A sound idea.”

“Thank you Gaius, you’ve helped me _so_ much. I know you didn’t want to tell me, but I’m glad you did. No one will hear it from me.”

“Thank you Arthur. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Would you stop by Morgana’s chambers and see if Guinevere is there? And if she is, would you send her here?”

“Of course sire.”

“Thank you. Goodnight Gaius.”

“Goodnight Arthur.” With that, Gaius left the room.


	20. Chapter 20

Arthur settled back down in his chair, brooding again. Gaius had always had a way of leading Arthur around to an answer. He’d used that method to teach him and Morgana when they were younger. It sometimes frustrated Arthur, but he’d always learned something in the process.

His brooding was interrupted by voices outside his room. He recognized one as Guinevere’s and quickly realized what was happening. So he opened the door and ordered the guards to let her in. After she came in, he closed the door behind her and helped her into a chair.

He sat down in the chair next to her and took her hand. “Guinevere. Thank you for coming so late.”

“Of course. It’s what you do when you love someone, remember?”

“I remember.” He squeezed her hand and lifted his other to the side of her face. “I want to run something by you.”

“Okay?”

“I trust your judgment. You’ve given me wise counsel in the past and I hope you will tonight.”

“Arthur, what is it?”

“I’ve made a decision about Merlin and Morgana. I’ve decided to do _nothing_ to them.”

“Nothing? You mean . . ?”

“We just got _our_ Morgana back, and I don’t want to lose her. And Merlin . . . if you tell anyone what I’m about to say, I’ll deny it . . . he’s my best friend. And after all he’s done for me, saving me and Camelot so many times, I’m kind of afraid of what might happen if he ever left. My father was wrong about magic; it’s not evil. It’s the person who uses it that chooses to do good or evil with it.”

“That’s kind of what Morgana told me.”

“And this destiny he told us about . . . it seems so unlikely. But I’ve just talked with Gaius. He helped me to see a better way to do things, a way I can change things. I can see that destiny become possible!”

“Arthur, that’s wonderful! I agree _completely_! I knew you’d find a way to keep them here, and alive.”

He laughed. “I’m glad you agree. I’ll tell them in the morning. No one else has to know about their magic, for now. I can count on you to keep their secret?” Gwen nodded. “Fantastic! When I become king, I can change laws. I can make things right for everyone. And that includes you and me.” He brought her closer to kiss her forehead then her lips. “I should let you get to bed.” He stood up and pulled her to standing. “Bring Morgana to me after breakfast. Oh—and before you go home, would you stop by Gaius’s and tell Merlin to come to me after he’s eaten breakfast?”

“Of course.”

“Goodnight Guinevere.” He kissed her hand and let her go.

“Goodnight Arthur,” she replied, and walked over to the door. After one last loving glance at him, she left the room.

xxxXxxx

Gwen knocked on Gaius’s door. At a hollered, “Come in,” she went inside the room. She found Gaius and Merlin sitting across the table from each other.

“Gwen, hi,” Merlin said, as he and Gaius stood for her.

“Oh sit down you two. I’ve just come to see how you’re doing, Merlin,” she replied.

“I’m okay.” He glanced at Gaius. “And definitely not bored. Nooo, not bored _at all_.”

Gwen had no idea what _that_ was about, but came further into the room to sit. “I’ve also come to tell you that Prince Arthur would like to see you, Merlin, in the morning, after you’ve had breakfast.” She kept her face straight.

Merlin went pale. “Does this mean he’s decided my fate?”

“I can’t say. He just asked me to tell you that.” _Well, it’s not a complete lie_ , she thought.

“All right. Thanks Gwen. Oh, how’s Morgana?”

“You mean you haven’t ‘talked’ to her since this morning?”

Merlin blushed. “She told you about our secret form of communication, huh?”

“Yeah. But don’t worry; I didn’t tell Arthur.”

“That’s a relief. Thanks.”

She stood to leave; the men made to stand too, but she waved them off. “I should go. But I’ll see you in the morning, Merlin. Morgana will be there too.” Merlin paled again. “Don’t worry. Arthur clearly put _a lot_ of thought into his decision. He won’t do anything rash.” Merlin nodded. “Goodnight gentlemen.”

“Goodnight Gwen,” Gaius and Merlin said together. Gwen left.

Merlin and Gaius looked at each other. The older man smiled while the younger man looked confused. “What do you think he’s decided?” Merlin asked.

“I don’t know for sure, but she’s right about Arthur thinking a lot. He was distracted all day,” Gaius replied.

“Uh oh. He knows thinking’s not good for him,” Merlin joked.

“Well, in this case, let’s hope it’s good for _you_. Gwen’s right though. He wouldn’t make a rash decision after so much thought.”

“I know.”

“You’d better get ready for bed. Plenty of rest will ensure you’ll be able to act rationally tomorrow, whatever the outcome.”

“Thanks Gaius, I will.” Merlin got up, picked up a candle and walked back into his room. After closing his door, he changed his clothes and got into bed. After lying there a few moments, he sent a thought to Morgana. “ _Morgana, how are you doing?_ ” he asked.

“ _All right. But not very tired_ ,” she replied.

“ _I know the feeling. I_ was _tired, then Gwen showed up with a message from Arthur_.”

“ _Uh oh. What did she say?_ ”

“ _She said Arthur wanted to see me after breakfast. She mentioned that you’d be there too_.”

“ _Huh. She didn’t tell_ me _. I guess she figured_ you’d _tell me_.”

“ _Well, she wasn’t wrong_.” They both laughed briefly.

“ _Did she . . . did she say what Arthur had decided?_ ”

“ _No. Just to go see him after breakfast_.”

“ _What do you think he’s decided?_ ”

“ _I don’t know. Gwen didn’t give me any hints; she must have been trying hard. She’s usually a worse liar than I am_.”

Morgana laughed again. “ _True. I guess we’ll have to wait and see_.”

“ _Yeah, unfortunately. But at least we’re in this together and prepared for the worst_.”

“ _Yes, we are_.” She went silent for a moment. “ _Merlin, are you scared?_ ”

“ _Yeah, I am. But both Gwen and Gaius reassured me that Arthur doesn’t make a rash decision about something he’s put a lot of thought into. I don’t think he’ll execute us_.”

“ _That helps. Thank you_.”

“ _Whatever happens, Morgana, I love you_.”

“ _You know I love you too_.”

“ _Get some rest, love_.”

“ _I think I can sleep now. Sleep well, love_.”

“ _Goodnight Morgana_.”

xxxXxxx

After the sun rose on Camelot, Prince Arthur was woken politely by someone who was _definitely_ not Merlin. He was about to ask where Merlin was when he suddenly remembered the events of the day before. He bounced out of bed as he remembered his verdict and the plan he’d had to deliver it. For once he, Arthur, was going to mess with Merlin’s mind a bit.

The unknown servant helped him dress and left him to his breakfast. Soon it would be time to see Merlin and Morgana here. He could see their faces now—shock, followed by surprise and joy (he hoped). He didn’t want to scare them into doing some crazy magic, so he’d have to be flexible.

Soon the servant came to take away his empty platter. Arthur composed his face into a stern expression. He even brought some paperwork over to his table, to make him look preoccupied. When a knock sounded at the door, he made his stern face and called out, “Enter.”

Morgana and Gwen came in. They curtsied and stood there until he gestured them over to the table. _Just one more player_ , he thought. After another few moments, there was another knock. _Yeesh, he must be taking this seriously if he’s knocking_ , Arthur mused. “Enter,” he called out again.

Merlin came in and walked over to the table when Arthur waved him over. “Please sit, all of you,” he said, and all three sat across from him at the table. “Thank you for being prompt. For once.” He glared at Merlin on the last phrase. Merlin flinched. _Ha!_

“Sire—” Merlin started. Arthur cut him off with a glare.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat anything. Merlin, Morgana,” he looked at each of them in turn, “I’ve come to a decision about your confessions concerning your _sorcery_.” He said the last word like it was poison; Gwen gave him an odd look. “For your crimes of having and using magic, you will be . . .” They looked at him with fear-filled white faces. “. . . not charged at all. You are free to go about your usual, if abnormal, lives.” He watched their faced go from fearful, to surprised to joyful.

“Are you . . . serious?” burst out of Merlin’s mouth. He looked like Arthur had just offered him a week off, no strings attached.

“Yes, I’m totally serious. And since I make the decisions around here, you’ll just have to live with it.” He gave the other three a huge smile.

Merlin and Morgana looked at each other, then threw themselves into an exuberant hug. Gwen just smiled at Arthur. When the two lovebirds broke apart, Morgana said, “Thank you Arthur, thank you _so_ much!”

Arthur stood up. “Okay, before things get too crazy, we still need to discuss some things.” They nodded. “All right. You two still have to work in secret—no telling anyone about your magic. At least not until the time is right. You’ll _definitely_ know when that is. And as far as your, uh, _relationship_ goes, I don’t object.” Merlin and Morgana embraced again. “Now hold on—just because I said I don’t object doesn’t mean you can go around _flaunting_ it in public. Keep it quiet; I don’t want to hear about it from anyone else, except maybe Guinevere.” He thought about that for a moment and made a disgusted face. “Actually, maybe not even then.” The other three laughed at his expense.

Morgana looked at Merlin. They nodded at each other and she got up to come around the table. She surprised her half-brother by throwing her arms around him. “You have no idea how much this means to us, _brother_.”

He looked at Merlin, who smirked at him. The smirk morphed into his usual silly grin. Arthur stepped back a bit and said, “Oh, I think I do. You’re not the only one with a secret relationship.” He smirked as Gwen came over and took his hand.

Morgana let go of Arthur when Merlin came over. “I knew you’d make the right decision, cabbage-head.” He threw his arms around Arthur then Gwen for short hugs.

Arthur put his hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “Someday, my friend, when I’m King, I’ll give you the public recognition and reward you deserve. For now, just know that I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me.” He paused to give his friend a shrewd look. “As a ‘thank you’ I’m giving you a pay raise. And I still want to hear all the stories.”

“How long have you got?” Merlin asked. “Because this will take several _days_.”

Arthur’s mouth fell open before he could stop it. He quickly rearrange his expression into a glare. “You can’t be serious, _Mer_ lin.”

“Oh, he _is_. Everything from the last year _alone_ could take _two_ days,” Morgana smirked.

Arthur looked back and forth between Merlin and Morgana, who broke into uproarious laughter. Gradually they quieted down and Merlin said, “Seriously though, it _will_ take awhile to tell you _everything_. But I will.”

“I’ll clear my calendar. But for now, there’s work to do. Since you didn’t work _at all_ yesterday, you have to do yesterday’s _and_ today’s work,” Arthur said.

Merlin’s mouth fell open and it was Arthur’s turn to laugh. “But . . . you . . .”

“Relax _Mer_ lin. Just do what you can today.” Merlin nodded, took Morgana’s hand and turned to leave. “Oh, and Merlin,” the servant turned, “be good.” The two men smirked at each other and Morgana and Merlin left the room.

xxxXxxx

Merlin and Morgana walked back to her chambers. They would have liked to walk hand-in-hand, but that would have been “publicly flaunting” their relationship. When they got inside her chambers though, they could do whatever they liked, keeping in mind it was _daytime_.

Once the door was closed, Morgana grabbed his hands and pulled him to spin around in a circle. She started joyfully chanting, “We did it!” over and over until they were too dizzy and collapsed on her bed.

They laid there grinning at each other like idiots. Merlin put a hand to her face. “See, I _told_ you it would be all right!”

“You were right. Your faith in him is justified,” she replied, and leaned over to give him a quick kiss.

“I knew he had it in him. Someday we’ll be able to practice magic in the open. And someday, we’ll be able to join more . . . permanently?” He flourished his hand around in the air, whispered, “ _Sciepe hringan_ ,” then pressed their palms together.

She gasped when she felt something cool on her hand, and brought it up to her face. “Wha . . ?” she said when she saw a silver ring on her first finger. Two thin bands of silver had been woven around each other, all the way around. She sat up.

Merlin sat up and took her hand. “It’s a promise. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, and if I get my way, I’ll never love anyone _but_ you. For the rest of my life.” He looked earnestly into her jade-green eyes.

Morgana was still quite astonished. He loved her this much _already_? “I-I . . . wow. You amaze me, you know.” She looked back into his eyes and knew he’d meant _every_ word of his declaration. “Oh Merlin, I do love you. So much. And I accept your promise.” She flashed him her brightest smile, which he returned, then pulled her to him for an enthusiastic kiss.

When they broke apart, he said, “I live for that day.” And pulled her into a tight embrace.

She laughed and pushed at him gently. “I still need to breathe, love.” He loosened his hold a bit. She frowned a little and said, “I wish I could wear this openly! I just want to shout out to everyone how I feel, but . . .”

“ _Sciepe swéorgbéag_ ,” he said, and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a long, delicately woven silver chain. “I thought of that. Put it on this; you’ll be able to wear it close to your heart and no one will know.” He smiled when she nodded, and helped her pull it over her head and down around her neck.

She took one last, longing look at the ring on her finger before taking it off. He helped her pull apart the chain’s clasp and watched as she slid the ring onto it and fastened the clasp. She slid the clasp to the back of her neck and tucked the ring into her bodice. “There,” she said with a satisfied smile, “our secret.”

He looked into her eyes again. “Someday I’ll replace it with something grander, to better match your status.”

She smiled shyly and said, “That’s not necessary. I have all I could ever want, right here.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly. They became lost in each other for a few moments.

He finally broke them apart, laughing and saying, “As much as I’d like to sit here,” (kiss), “doing this,” (kiss), “all day,” (kiss),” I unfortunately _do_ have to get to work.”

She gave him a longer kiss and sighed, “All right.” And gave him another kiss.

“Morgana! If I don’t get my work done, he _could_ change his mind and take my head after all.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, before you leave—” She threw her arms around his neck to give him a kiss that left his head spinning.

“Whoa—yeah, thanks. Now I won’t be able to concentrate all day.” He stood up before she could convince him otherwise. “My Lady,” he said with a lovely formal bow.

“Farewell, my love,” she said dramatically, before leaning back and throwing the back of her hand to her forehead.

He looked at her for a moment, concerned, until she gave him a wink. Laughing, he blew her a kiss and left her room.

xxxXxxx

That night, everyone in Camelot slept peacefully. Everyone except the guards watching Morgause. They suffered head trauma at an unknown hand, and weren’t discovered until Gaius went for his morning rounds. The guards were fine after a few days’ rest and some painkilling potions. But Morgause was gone, and whoever had taken her left no clues.


	21. Epilogue

Morgause’s disappearance caused no small amount of consternation. Searches ranged throughout the citadel, town and out to the kingdom’s borders. No trace was found of her, and conditions gradually returned to normal. Well, normal for _Camelot_.

One perfectly ordinary evening, Merlin was preparing Arthur for bed when he heard a summons—in his head. He groaned out loud and dropped the clothes he’d been folding.

“What is it?” Arthur asked.

“A great big annoying message,” Merlin replied.

By now Arthur knew about Merlin and Morgana’s silent form of communication. “I take it that it’s _not_ from my darling sister?”

“I _wish_. It’s my giant lizard friend.”

“The dragon?”

“Kilgharrah, yes. He wants a chat. _Right now_ , of course.”

“Impatient, is he?”

“You have _no_ idea. ‘Impatient’ is a nice way to say it. I’d better go.”

“Not without me you’re not.”

“ _What?_ No. He probably just wants a quick chat about something.”

“I’m going.” Merlin opened his mouth to argue again. “You can’t put me off. I want to meet the creature that’s helped so much.” Arthur got up from where he’d been lounging on the bed and buckled his sword belt around his waist.

“Fine. Let’s get this over with then.” He turned and led his master from the room. Outside the door, he walked into someone, who went crashing to the ground. He looked down at Gwen. “Oh Gwen, I’m so sorry! Are you all right?”

“I’m fine Merlin. And that answered the question of whether your clumsiness is just an act,” Gwen replied. She smiled and they chuckled a bit. “So where are you two off to?”

“To meet a friend of mine,” Merlin replied.

“A big scaly one,” Arthur added.

Gwen’s eyes got huge. “You mean—”

“Gwen, shh!” Merlin cut her off and whispered, “The dragon, yes.”

“Can I go!” Gwen replied.

“Ugh, not you too,” Merlin replied. She gave him a hopeful look. “Fine. Might as well make it a party and invite Morgana too.” They started walking as he rolled his eyes and thought to Morgana, “ _Hey love, want to go on a walk?_ ”

“ _At night? Where to?_ ” she thought back.

“W _e’re going to see a friend of mine who only comes out at night_.”

“ _Oh._ Ohhh _. Yes, I’d like to come. Wait, you said ‘we.’_ ”

“ _Yep, he contacted me while I was still in Arthur’s room and we ran into Gwen on the way. They wanted to meet him, so I thought we’d make it a party_.”

“ _Great!_ ”

“ _We’re headed to your chambers now. See you in a minute_.” To the others he said, “She’s in. We’re to meet her at her chambers.”

“Excellent! Let’s go,” Arthur declared.

The three met Morgana at her chambers, and they were on their way. They walked as casually as possible through the castle until they were clear. Merlin led them through the gate he usually snuck out of. It wasn’t a frequently used one, but still guarded, so he “convinced” the guards to take short naps.

By the time they reached the cover of trees, it was fully dark. Arthur took Gwen’s hand and Merlin took Morgana’s. Merlin took this chance to explain a little more about the dragon they were about to meet.

“His name is Kilgharrah, but you know him as the Great Dragon. He’s very old and knows _a lot_. He’s also a seer, kind of like Morgana.”

“He sees the future?” Gwen asked.

“Yes. He dreams like Morgana does but he can also read patterns in the stars. But he delights in answering cryptically instead of telling you something straight. If he tells you straight, it’s not good.”

“So you usually have to figure out what he’s saying?” Morgana asked.

“Yeah. It’s _so_ annoying.”

“I won’t ever do that to you, Merlin,” Morgana said.

“Thanks, love! Oh, and he may say things _just_ to annoy you. He doesn’t really like you, Morgana.”

“Surely he’s changed his mind _now_ ,” she replied.

“I hope so, or he’s going to get an earful.” He thought another moment. “He’ll probably tell you things I haven’t told you yet, just to irritate me. But getting mad at him won’t work, trust me.”

Arthur spoke up. “So Merlin, he really was under the castle for twenty years?”

“Yeah, your father wasn’t lying about that. For my first two years here, when I needed help outside of Gaius’s, I’d go visit him.”

“Do you know how he got free?” Arthur asked quietly.

Merlin stopped for a moment. “Yes, I do. Do you remember when we were fighting him and I said, ‘I’m sorry you’re having to do this’?”

“Yeah, and I said, ‘Why? You’re not to blame.’ But you still looked like you blamed yourself . . . are you trying to tell me that _you_ freed him?”

“Yes.” Arthur’s face started to cloud with anger. “Wait, let me tell you why.” Arthur didn’t speak, but nodded. “It was part of the bargain I made to save Camelot from Morgause.” He looked at Morgana, who looked sad, but nodded at him to continue. “I told you about that, remember?”

“When you poisoned her?” Arthur asked. Gwen gasped.

“Yes. But I didn’t tell you _how_ I knew she was the source of the spell. I asked Kilgharrah how to end the spell. He wouldn’t tell me until I bargained that I’d free him— _on my mother’s life_. He told me Morgana was the source and I had to kill her to end it. So, poison.”

“Still, he killed so many people! Why didn’t you kill him?”

“I _know_ Arthur. I really wanted to. Just hear me out. He was angry at Uther for killing all his kin and imprisoning him. But I think he had another reason.”

“This had better be good.”

“If he hadn’t attacked, we wouldn’t have needed to find the last dragonlord. I wouldn’t have met my father or inherited his power. And no one would have stopped him.”

“So he attacked us because he wanted you to stop him from destroying Camelot?”

“It sounds crazy, but yes. Camelot is to be the center of Albion. He could’ve killed you twice and didn’t.”

“I’m still not okay with all this, but I’m not going to try to kill him.”

“It wouldn’t work anyway. I’m the only one who could kill him, and I won’t. He’s the last dragon and I’m the last dragonlord. We’re kin and the last of our kinds.”

With that, the group started walking again. Soon they could see Kilgharrah standing impatiently in the clearing. He stamped his feet a couple of times. When the four finally emerged from the trees, the dragon rumbled, “At last. What was the delay, young warlock?”

“Well, you did call while I was in the King’s chambers. So naturally he wanted to come. The ladies found out and so here we are,” Merlin replied.

“Am I to understand that they know your secrets?”

“Every one.”

“In that case, I am pleased to meet you, Once and Future King, Once and Future Queen and Lady Morgana.” Merlin didn’t miss how Kilgharrah used Morgana’s proper title instead of _the witch_.

“’Once and Future Queen’?” Gwen asked.

“Lady Guinevere, your destiny is linked to your Prince’s as Lady Morgana’s is to Merlin’s.”

Gwen blushed and said, “I’m not a Lady.” She looked at Arthur, who smiled at her.

“That will change before long. But soon you will be much more.” Gwen’s mouth fell open in shock and closed when Arthur nodded.

“Guess I didn’t tell you that bit,” Merlin added.

“No, you left that out,” Gwen murmured distractedly.

Merlin glared at Kilgharrah. “So, why did you call me here?”

The dragon looked down at Merlin and Morgana’s joined hands and smirked. “To tell you what I learned about this ‘change of destiny’ you mentioned. It is rare that such an event escaped me, but nevertheless it is there in the stars. Young warlock, when you healed Morgana, you changed her destiny _and_ yours.”

Merlin and Morgana looked at each other. “How so?” Merlin asked.

“Morgana will no longer unite with Mordred in evil. She will remain with you and assist you with your destiny—protecting Arthur and helping to bring about Albion.”

“ _Really?_ ” Morgana breathed. Her eyes widened in wonder.

“Yes, young seer. I’m not sure destiny could separate you two again, even if it tried.”

Merlin and Morgana blushed. Behind them, Arthur whooped and Gwen said, “I _knew_ it!” That just made the other couple blush harder.

“I’m not saying anything further about that. But because you changed for the good, Morgana, something had to change for the bad. Balance had to be kept,” Kilgharrah said.

“What is it?” Morgana asked.

“Morgause lives. She will become a fearsome adversary. All of you must be vigilant.”

“Of course,” Arthur replied.

Kilgharrah lifted his wings and shook them out. “That is all I came to say. Is there anything else you wish to discuss, Merlin?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Merlin replied.

Arthur stepped closer. “Thank you,” he said, looking up at Kilgharrah. “For all your help over the years. It was good to finally meet you in a more civilized manner.”

Kilgharrah dipped his head. “Indeed, young Prince. I am grateful to you for keeping Merlin alive. It’s not an easy task; his sense of self-preservation is lacking.” Arthur and the dragon started chuckling.

“Hey!” Merlin yelled indignantly. The laughing gradually ceased.

Gwen curtsied to Kilgharrah. “It was an honor to meet you.”

“Do not fret, young Guinevere. What you think of as your weaknesses will actually be your greatest strengths.” Gwen smiled and nodded. “Lady Morgana,” he started.

“Yes Kilgharrah?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I am glad Merlin was right about you. He will need your strength and support in the coming days as you will need his. But though storms will come, the peace you achieve will be worth it in the end. A few surprises now and then will help.”

“A few surprises?” Morgana asked, puzzled.

“What do you mean?” Merlin asked the dragon.

“Goodbye, young ones,” Kilgharrah said to the four friends, and leaped into the sky with a mighty flap of his wings.

“What do you mean?!” Merlin yelled up at him.

As Kilgharrah left the clearing, he sent a thought to Merlin, “ _You will see, young warlock_.”

“I hate it when he does that!” Merlin complained and rolled his eyes.

“I see what you mean about cryptic,” Arthur commented.

“You get used to it.”

“Come on; let’s get back to the castle. I need a snack before bed,” Morgana said.

After everyone laughed, Arthur said, “Agreed.”

The couples linked hands again and set off back to Camelot. All of them looked forward to the future with trepidation _and_ anticipation.


End file.
